CELESTINA, LA, the popular alternative title attached from 1519 (or earlier) to the anonymous Comedia de Calisto y Melibea, a Spanish novel in dialogue which was celebrated throughout Europe during the 16th century. The authorship of the Celestina and the date of its composition are doubtful. An anonymous prefatory letter in the editions subsequent to 1501 attributes the book to Juan de Mena or Rodrigo Cota, but this ascription is universally rejected. The prevailing opinion is that the author of the 21 acts was Fernando de Rojas, apparently a Spanish Jew resident at the Puebla de Montalban in the province of Toledo; R. Foulche-Delbosc, however, maintains that the original 16 acts are by an unknown writer who had no part in the five supplementary acts. Some scholars give 1483 as the date of composition; others hold that the book was written in 1497. These questions are still unsettled. The Celestina excels all earlier Spanish works in tragic force, in impressive conception, and in the realistic rendering of characters drawn from all classes of society. It passed through innumerable editions in Spain, and was the first Spanish book to find acceptance throughout western Europe. A Latin version by Caspar Barth was issued under the title of Pornoboscodidascalus latinus (1624) with all the critical apparatus of a recognized classic. James Mabbe's English rendering (1631) is one of the best translations ever published. The original edition of 1499 has been reprinted by R. Foulche-Delbosc in the Bibliotheca Ilispanica, vol. xii. (1902).