Menéndez y Pelayo, Marcelino

Menéndez y Pelayo, Marcelino (märthālē`nō mānān`dĕth ē pālä`yō), 1856–1912, Spanish literary historian and critic. His vast contribution to Spanish scholarship includes Historia de los heterodoxos españoles (1880–82), a panoramic history of Spain; Historia de las ideas estéticas en España (1883–91), an equally panoramic cultural history of Spain; an anthology of Castilian poetry (13 vol., 1890–1908); an important anthology of Latin American poetry (1893–95). His masterpiece was the Orígines de la novela española (1905–15).