CASTILLO SOLORZANO, ALONSO DE (1584?-1647), Spanish novelist and playwright, issued his first work, Donaires del Parnaso, two volumes of humorous poems, in 1624-25, but his Tardes entretenidas (1625) and Jornadas alegres (16 26) proved that he was a novelist by vocation. He published in quick succes sion three clever picaresque novels, two of which, La Nina de los embustes, Teresa de Manzanares (1634) and Las Aventuras del Bachiller Trapaza (1637), were used by Lesage in Gil Blas. To these shrewd cynical stories he owes his reputation. He was also popular as a playwright both at home and abroad. His Marques del Cigarral and El Mayorazgo figurdn are the sources respectively of Scarron's Don Jophet d'Armenie and L'Heritier ridicule. Among his numerous remaining works may be mentioned Las Harpias en Madrid (1633), Fiestas del Jardin Los Alivios de Casandra (1640) and the posthumous Quinta de Laurel (1649) ; the witty observation of these books forms a singular contrast to the prim devotion of his Sagrario de Valencia (1635).