The Dewey Decimal number listed for Don Quixote is 863.
In the Dewey Decimal Classification, 800 covers literature, while 860 covers Spanish and Portuguese literatures. The number 863 is used for Spanish fiction, which is why Cervantes’s Spanish novel is listed there. It identifies the work’s literary classification, not its publication year, language code, or geographic setting.
The number can be confused with nearby-looking figures such as 823, which classifies English fiction, or 891, associated with literatures of various Indo-European languages. A number such as 946 refers to the history of Spain rather than Spanish literature.
Don Quixote was written in Early Modern Spanish and first published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615. Its classification reflects the original literary tradition even though the novel has since appeared in hundreds of translations and adaptations.