Except the Bible, in fact, no book has been so widely diffused as "Don Quixote." The "Imitatio Christi" may have been translated into as many different languages, and perhaps "Robinson Crusoe" and the "Vicar of Wakefield" into nearly as many, but in multiplicity of translations and editions "Don Quixote" leaves them all far behind.
Still more remarkable is the character of this wide diffusion.

"Don Quixote" has been thoroughly naturalised among people whose ideas about knight-errantry, if they had any at all, were of the vaguest, who had never seen or heard of a book of chivalry, who could not possibly feel the humour of the burlesque or sympathise with the author's purpose.
Another curious fact is that this, the most cosmopolitan book in the world, is one of the most intensely national.

"Manon Lescaut" is not more thoroughly French, "Tom Jones" not more English, "Rob Roy" not more Scotch, than "Don Quixote" is Spanish, in character, in ideas, in sentiment, in local colour, in everything.

What, then, is the secret of this unparalleled popularity, increasing year by year for well-nigh three centuries?
One explanation, no doubt, is that of all the books in the world, "Don Quixote" is the most catholic.

There is something in it for every sort of reader, young or old, sage or simple, high or low.