Three New Titles from Italica Press

Italica Press is happy to announce the publication of three new titles at year’s end: Elye of Saint-Gilles and two dual-language editions of the poetry of Ada Negri: Songs of the Island and The Book of Mara.
See below for details.

Elye of Saint-Gilles is Published

Elye of Saint-Gilles tells the story of Elye — the son of Count Julien of Saint-Gilles, a vassal of William of Orange — and of his exploits during his youth and early knighthood. It is part of the William of Orange cycle, whose historical kernel is linked to events of the First and Fourth Crusades and the Reconquest of Spain.

Elye of Saint-Gilles is the first English translation of the Old French chanson de geste and includes a new critical edition, facing the English text. This work encapsulates many of the standard elements of the French chanson de geste and provides an excellent example of the virtues of this literary form for entertainment and instruction.

This title has been edited and translated by A. Richard Hartman and Sandra C. Malicote. Their introduction places Elye firmly within the context of its literary forms, of the crusading ethos, and of Western attraction to — and prejudices against — the Muslim world. Italica Press has published this edition in both hardcover and paperback editions, and will soon make it available for the Kindle and other handhelds.

Ada Negri’s Songs of the Island

In December Italica Press published Songs of the Island, the second of two dual-language editions of one of Italy’s most important twentieth-century poets, Ada Negri.

Toward the end of March 1923, Negri enjoyed a brief holiday in Sicily and from there she went to the island of Capri, where she stayed for about a year and wrote I Canti dell’Isola/Songs of the Island. These poems are the result of the blinding light of the island, the ardor of a holiday both physical and spiritual. They embody “the magic of the tangible and the flashes of invisible reality,” and express the poet’s hour of quiet and reflection.

Via the impressionistic sweep of these images, the poet transports us with Capri’s explosion of light and color. Enchanted by pearls, amethyst and jade, the mythological sea of Ulysses, the unstoppable bleeding of poppies, climbing purple roses, and the castaways of dreams, the reader wants to be seduced, if only for a moment, by this world of the senses.

Songs of the Island is translated, with an introduction and bibliography, by Maria A. Costantini. Italica Press has published this edition in both hardcover and paperback editions, and will soon make it available for the Kindle and other handhelds.

Ada Negri’s The Book of Mara

This December Italica Press published two dual-language volumes by one of Italy’s most important twentieth-century poets, Ada Negri. Both are translated, with an introduction and bibliography, by Maria A. Costantini. The first, The Book of Mara, reflects Negri’s tormented love affair with a man whose life was cut short by premature death. It is, in essence, one long poem arising from a woman’s most intimate space  — a most passionate expression of love, loss and redemption. Written in 1919 with unusual frankness, especially in view of Italian society of the time, Il Libro di Mara is considered the high point of Negri’s poetic work.

Through metrical and formal execution, The Book of Mara demonstrates the originality of her verse, which opens up to a more personal dimension — almost prose-like. Her verse is impressionistic, almost mystical, spanned with bristling lyrics, sudden igniting bursts and visionary flashes.

Italica Press has published this edition in both hardcover and paperback editions, and will soon make it available for the Kindle and other handhelds.

Forthcoming Poetry Titles

We’re pleased to announce that three new titles will soon be joining our Poetry in Translation series. These include two by one of Italy’s greatest twentieth-century poets, Ada Negri: The Book of Mara and Songs of the Island, both translated and introduced by Maria A. Costantini. Both will be available in December 2010.

The third is the medieval epic romance, Elye of Saint-Gilles, edited and translated by A. Richard Hartman and Sandra C. Malicote, available in November 2010. All three will be presented as dual-language editions.

Hell on the Radio

On Sunday, September 26th, Eileen Gardiner will be interviewed on Tapestry, Canadian Broadcasting’s weekly show on faith. The show will be devoted to notions of the afterlife, and Gardiner’s segment will be discussing medieval and modern notions of hell. Mary Hynes hosts. Like NPR’s Speaking of Faith, this weekly program is an “engaging, provocative and unexpected hour of radio: an hour in which rabbis and poets get equal time on the topic of faith, science-fiction writers and physicist-priests ponder the great creation myths, athletes explore the hero’s journey as a spiritual metaphor, and architects examine the idea of space for the soul.”

Tapestry airs on CBC Radio One on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 Atlantic, Eastern and Central; 3:00 Pacific; and 4:00 Mountain. It is rebroadcast on Thursday at 3:00. After the first airing on September 26th, you can listen to the show or download a podcast at http://www.cbc.ca/tapestry .

Dr. Gardiner is the author of several books on Hell, including Visions of Heaven and Hell Before Dante, and is the curator of the website “Hell-on-Line.” She was recently one of the scholars featured on the History Channel special, “Gates of Hell,” which is now also available on DVD and iTunes.

Eileen Gardiner on History Channel

Eileen Gardiner will be appearing on the History Channel’s two-hour documentary, “Gates of Hell.” It premiers Tuesday, August 17, at 8:00 PM. Dr. Gardiner will be discussing St. Patrick’s Purgatory on Lough Derg, Ireland. Her related book, The Pilgrim’s Way to St. Patrick’s Purgatory, has just been published by Italica Press.

“Gates of Hell” explores six places across the globe believed to be actual entrances into Hell. They include a volcano in Iceland, a cave in the jungles of Central America, a lake of fire in Africa, Lago Averno outside Naples, a pagan sacred site in Greece, and St. Patrick’s Purgatory in Ireland. According to ancient myth and legend, each one is a passage to the infernal otherworld. Even today, some believe they are still portals. They share striking similarities. The History Channel visits these locations, and along the way, reveals how the concept of Hell emerged in history and why it still evokes such fascination today.

Please tune in!

Summer 2010 Catalog Now Online

Our Summer 2010 catalog is now available as a downloadable PDF document. It contains information on all Italica Press publications, including title, author, ISBN, description, pricing, publication date, shipping weight, cover image, and formats. The catalog also contains hyperlinks to title entries on our web site (with complete title information), as well as an order form. The catalog may be viewed on screen or downloaded, printed, e-mailed or mailed to your colleagues or bookbuyers.

Of special note this Summer are several new and forthcoming titles. Foremost among these is Eileen Gardiner’s The Pilgrim’s Way to St. Patrick’s Purgatory, which was published this July.

Forthcoming titles include the chanson de geste, Elye of Saint-Gilles, presented in a dual-language edition with facing French and English. It is edited and translated by A. Richard Hartman and Sandra C. Malicote. Also forthcoming is Bernard André’s The Life of Henry VII, translated with an introduction by Daniel Hobbins.

Worth noting again are three recent publications: Medieval Renaissance Baroque edited by David A. Levine and Jack Freiberg; Camillo Agrippa’s Fencing: A Renaissance Treatise, translated and edited by Ken Mondschein; and Fierabras and Floripas: A French Epic Allegory, translated and introduced by Michael A.H. Newth.

Our titles are available through our own website, through online bookstores like Amazon.com, through your local or campus bookstore, or through e-book vendors and on handhelds, including the Kindle and iPad. Formats include hardcover and paperback, PDF, EPub and Kindle versions. Our titles are also offered through most major distributors. We hope that you will take a look at our offerings, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Gardiner’s Pilgrim’s Way Published

The print and digital editions of Eileen Gardiner’s Pilgrim’s Way to St. Patrick’s Purgatory have now been published. These offer both a complete, up-to-date guide for the modern traveler and pilgrim from Dublin to Lough Derg in northern Ireland, and a detailed analysis of the pilgrimage phenomenon in the Middle Ages, the place of St. Patrick’s Purgatory in both the spiritual geography and the taxonomy of medieval pilgrimage, and a study of the primary sources and historical traditions surrounding the site and medieval routes to it.
Includes an introduction to the topic of medieval pilgrimage and an overview of what the early pilgrims have told us about this route and the site. This book features descriptions of the monuments, relics and saints along the way, as well as a stage-by-stage description of the journey itself. Provides travelers’ information, photos, maps, plans, a bibliography, a chronology, index and links to online resources and photo galleries. The e-book offers full color images and maps, enlargeable images, searchable text and hyperlinks to external resources, including bibliography and other scholarly resources, travel information and details about the sites and towns along the route.


54 photos, 23 maps and plans. 204 pages
ISBN 978-1-59910-187-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-59910-167-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-59910-164-4 (e-book)


We are also delighted to report that Dr. Gardiner and her work on St. Patrick‘s Purgatory will be featured on a forthcoming History Channel program on portals to the underworld. Stay tuned for details of broadcast dates and times.

James Hester on Mondschein, Fencing: A Renaissance Treatise

We’re happy to report that Ken Mondschein’s translation and edition of Camillo Agrippa’s Fencing: A Renaissance Treatise has just received an outstanding review. James Hester of the Royal Armouries Museum writes, “Fencing historian Ken Mondschein has done the Western martial arts community a great service by translating into English the fencing treatise of the iconic ‘Renaissance man’ turned fencing master, Camillo Agrippa.... This text is a valuable resource for historians, art historians, science historians, and scholars of masculine identity in 16th-century Italy....
“Mondschein succeeds in producing a translation that is modern and accessible without sacrificing the literary flavour of the period in which it was written. It is also heartening to see this text contribute to the growing trend of treating fencing manuals not just as resources for today’s aspiring swordsmen, but also as a useful primary source for in-depth research within the wider academic community.”  
For the full review see De Re Militari.

What’s New at Italica Press

The big news at Italica Press is that we’ve changed our What’s New at Italica page to a blog format. This newer format will allow us to more easily and quickly inform you of forthcoming and new titles and of the status of our ongoing projects. In addition, you’ll also be able to comment, send us suggestions, and subscribe to notices via RSS feeds and other subscriber models.
We hope that you’ll enjoy the new format and will take advantage of its features to help us communicate with you better.
As always, our thanks and appreciation for your continued interest and support.

Eileen Gardiner Publisher	Ronald G. Musto Publisher

Gardiner’s Pilgrim’s Way Now Online

The first edition of Eileen Gardiner’s The Pilgrim’s Way to St. Patrick’s Purgatory is now available online. This traces the medieval pilgrim’s route that began in Dublin and ended at Lough Derg in County Donegal. Today the Pilgrim’s Way stretches across the boundaries of the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland and brings the modern traveller on a journey through the medieval past and the fragmentary riches that remain today. It provides a cultural itinerary that can be travelled by car or bike, on foot, and even partly by boat, through one of the loveliest landscapes of Ireland and Europe.
This online edition is enhanced with descriptive text; analysis of the textual, visual and archaeological evidence; photos, plans and elevations; an interactive map of the route; bibliography and discussion of the European pilgrimage phenomenon, including a “Taxonomy of Medieval Pilgrimage.”
A new print edition will soon be available in both hardcover and paperback. Please subscribe to our Status postings for updates. This site is one part of Eileen Gardiner’s ongoing Hell-on-Line project.

Medieval Renaissance Baroque Published

An important addition to our Studies in Art and History was published earlier this year. Medieval Renaissance Baroque: A Cat’s Cradle in Honor of Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, edited by David A. Levine and Jack Freiberg, celebrates this renowned scholar’s breakthrough achievements in both the print and digital realms of art and cultural history. Fifteen friends and colleagues present tributes and essays that reflect every facet of Lavin’s brilliant career.
The volume is available in hardcover and paperback, as a complete, downloadable e-book and as individual, downloadable essays.

Fierabras and Floripas now Available

We are pleased to announce the publication of Michael A.H. Newth’s first modern English translation of Fierabras and Floripas: A French Epic Allegory. This was the most successful French epic tale — or chanson de geste — among audiences in medieval England, not excluding the great Song of Roland, and it continued to resonate through the work of Rabelais, Cervantes, and into the 20th century. This translation continues Italica’s successful collaboration begun with Newth’s Aymeri of Narbonne: A French Epic Romance.
We will soon also be publishing the first English edition of the medieval French epic romance, Elye de Saint Gille. This dual-language text has been edited and translated by A. Richard Hartman and Sandra C. Malicote.

Agrippa’s Fencing: An Auspicious Start

We are happy to report the great success of the first English edition of Fencing: A Renaissance Treatise by Camillo Agrippa, translated and edited by Ken Mondschein. Agrippa’s work is one of the most important texts in the history of European martial arts — and a milestone of Renaissance intellectual history — and Mondschein’s translation and edition set an equally high standard.