The Wives of Bath Don't Live Here Anymore...
I have grown rather concerned as of late about how difficult it's becoming to find a copy of Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales in its original Old English text.
The "mainstream" bookstores I've been looking at have all sorts of wonderful new printings on old classics. I've found a copy of Dante's
Inferno which has a comparative narrative with the original Italian (at least I think it's Italian) on one page, and a line-for-line English translation on the other page; and at the end of each Canto, there are lots of notes on just who Dante is talking to or about. I also have my eye on a new Beowulf which also has a comparative line-for-line translation of the original language and English. I've also found (but can only pine for until I get my tax refund) a 2-volume boxed set of
The Tale of Genji with what looks to be a decent translation and pictures, all wrapped in a Franklin binding style.
This is all very good and all...but what of Chaucer? I've only just recently managed to find a
Canterbury Tales with the Old English text, and that was by sheer stroke of luck I happened upon it while out walking. In all honesty, while it does make for a longer than usual read, you can figure out what everyone is saying by just reading the lines outloud. Most of the words are just Old English spellings, and the meanings of the words haven't changed over time even if the spelling has.
I can appreciate the Modern English version for those who'd like to read Chaucer, but get bogged down by the Old English. Even still, that's no excuse for bookstores to have only Modern English copies of Chaucer's work. Please, Sir, this poor bibliophile wants some more.
Oh, and just as a sidenote: it's also bloody hard to find a book that has all 3 parts of Dante's Divine Comedy (The Inferno, Purgatory, and Heaven) included in a single volume. They're all divided up into different $9.99 books these days. I'm seriously contemplating just seizing control of my library's copy of
The Divine Comedy, which not only has all three parts, but also includes the hauntingly fantastic (and at times disturbing) lithographs depicting Dante's journey.
Today's Lesson: Second-Hand bookstores are your best friend more often than you'd think.
posted by Phillip at 7:13 AM
