Dante's Divine Comedy (2003-2005)
[Acquired: Monday, September 17, 2012]:
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Birk, Sandow, & Marcus Sanders, trans. Dante's Inferno. Illustrated by Sandow Birk. Preface by Doug Harvey. Introduction by Michael F. Meister. 2003. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2004.
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Birk, Sandow, & Marcus Sanders, trans. Dante's Purgatorio. Illustrated by Sandow Birk. Preface by Marcia Tanner. Introduction by Michael F. Meister. 2004. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2005.
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Birk, Sandow, & Marcus Sanders, trans. Dante's Paradiso. Illustrated by Sandow Birk. Preface by Peter S. Hawkins. Foreword by Mary Campbell. Introduction by Michael F. Meister. 2005. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2005.
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Birk, Sandow. Dante's Divine Comedy: The Complete Paintings. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2005.
I found this beautiful (and rather weird) boxset sitting in the Unicorn Bookshop in Warkworth. The main idea of it seems to be as a showcase for the paintings and drawings of Sandow Birk, done in direct imitation / competition with Doré's nineteenth century illutrations for the Divine Comedy. The text has been adapted / translated by Birk and his collaborator Marcus Sanders. It's not exactly poetic, but the updating is quite interesting as well. I love this kind of eccentric project, I must say. Why not dream big, if you're going to dream at all?
And, if you're interested in hearing more about Dante and his various translators, you could do worse than check out my Imaginary Museum post here.
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- category - Italian Literature: Poetry & Drama
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