Montale, Eugenio; Arrowsmith, William; Warren, Rosanna

The Collected Poems of Eugenio Montale, 1925-1977

ISBN: 9780393080636
New York, NY, USA: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. First Edition. Hardcover. “Eugenio Montale changed Italian poetry forever and helped to create international Modernism. Steeped in the tradition of Dante, Petrarch, and Leopardi, yet fiercely innovative, in each new book Montale challenged the styles he had previously established. His poems chart an adventure of consciousness and conscience in response to the shocks of modernity, fascism, and two world wars, and they also present several of the greatest erotic sequences in modern poetry. With the wide range of Montale’s poetry at last available to the English reader, this collection reveals Montale to be the greatest Italian poet of the twentieth century.” (from front flap) This collection of poetry by Nobel Laureate Eugenio Montale (1896-1981) includes over fifty years of poems from seven collections of Italian poetry: Cuttlefish Bones (1925), The Occasions (1939), The Storm and Other Things (1956), Satura (1962), Poetic Diary: 1971, Poetic Diary: 1972, & Poetic Diary (1974-77). During Montale’s lifetime, only one of his poetry collections was translated into English (The Storm and Other Poems, 1978). William Arrowsmith (1924-1992), American classicist and translator of ancient Latin texts of Petronius, Aristophanes, & Euripides, spent the last years of his own life translating the works of Montale. His translation of The Occasions was published in 1987, and following his death, manuscripts of translations of every volume of Montale’s poetry were left behind. Posthumously, his translation of Cuttlefish Bones was published in 1992 & of Satura in 1998. This volume includes those two collections as well as The Occasions and the remaining unpublished volumes in both Italian and English. Notes on the translation of these remaining volumes were incomplete upon his death, and editor Rosanna Warren (daughter of Poet Laureate Robert Penn Warren) only “added minimal notes to aid comprehension, but [has] made no attempt to supply the full interpretative context W.A. would have provided had he lived.” (pg. xxxiii) Warren expressed that this publication honors Arrowsmith’s dedication to the art of translation and the poetry of Montale, maintaining the translator’s intentions and interpretations across languages. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket: first edition, as stated on copyright pages, first printing, as indicated by number sequence thereon. Book is in very fine condition with no discernible flaws. Dust jacket is in fine-to-very fine condition with only very minor bumping, creasing to the fine edges and corners of front, back covers & spine; minor scratching to front, back covers. An extra handling fee of $1.50 will be added for shipping due to the size and weight of this item. Very Fine / Fine-Very Fine. [Item #6682]

Price: $45.00