The author of "Don Quixote," born at Alcalá de Henares; was distinguished in arms before he became distinguished in letters; fought in the battle of Lepanto like a very hero, and bore away with him as a "maimed soldier" marks of his share in the struggle; sent on a risky embassy, was captured by pirates and remained in their hands five years; was ransomed by his family at a cost which beggared them, and it was only when his career as a soldier closed that he took himself to literature; began as a dramatist before he devoted himself to prose romance; wrote no fewer than 30 dramas; the first part of the work which has immortalised his name appeared in 1605, and the second in 1615; it took the world by storm, was translated into all the languages of Europe, but the fortune which was extended to his book did not extend to himself, for he died poor, some ten days before his great contemporary, William Shakespeare; though carelessly written, "Don Quixote" is one of the few books of all time, and is as fresh to-day as when it was first written (1547-1616).