From Publishers Weekly
De Lorris and de Meun's 13th-century allegorical romance was, as Horgan notes in the introduction to her new translation, a bestseller in its day. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
This is a readable and reliable line-by-line translation of the Roman de la Rose, based on Ernest Langlois's 1914-24 edition. The first in modern English prose, it is particularly valuable for its faithful rendering of the imagery of the original on which . . . so much of the poem's irony depends.


Book Description
This is a new translation of The Romance of the Rose, an allegorical account of the progress of a courtly love affair which became the most popular and influential of all medieval romances. In the hands of Jean de Meun, who continued de Lorris's work, it assumed vast proportions and embraced almost every aspect of medieval life from predestination and optics, to the Franciscan controversy and the right way to deal with premature hair-loss.


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Many English-speaking readers of the Roman de la rose, the famous dream allegory of the thirteenth century, have come to rely on Charles Dahlberg's elegant and precise translation of the Old French text. His line-by-line rendering in contemporary English is available again, this time in a third edition with an updated critical apparatus. Readers at all levels can continue to deepen their understanding of this rich tale about the Lover and his quest - against the admonishments of Reason and the obstacles set by Jealousy and Resistance - to pluck the fair Rose in the Enchanted Garden. The original introduction by Dahlberg remains an excellent overview of the work, covering such topics as the iconographic significance of the imagery and the use of irony in developing the central theme of love. His new preface reviews selected scholarship through 1990 and beyond, which examines, for example, the sources and influences, the two authors, the nature of the allegorical narrative as a genre, the use of first person, and the poem's early reception. The new bibliographic material incorporates that of the earlier editions. The sixty-four miniature illustrations from thirteenth- and fifteenth-century manuscripts are retained, as are the notes keyed to the Langlois edition, on which the translation is based.

SYNOPSIS

This is the first complete English translation of what may have been one of the most widely distributed works of literature in its time. It was begun by Guillaume de Lorris around 1237 as an allegory of courtly love, and continued around 1277 by Jean de Meun who's added lines (4,059 through 21,780) changed the poem into a satire on medieval life￯﾿ﾽespecially on women and marriage. Robbins taught at Bucknell University; Dunn at New York University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

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