EL PELEGRINAGE DE LA VIDA HUMANA : A STUDY AND EDITION.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Dunn, Maryjane.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania.

Subjects (All):

Literature, Medieval.

0297.

Local Subjects:

0297.

Physical Description:

472 pages

Contained In:

Dissertation Abstracts International 46-05A.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

In 1490, Henry Meyer, a printer in Toulouse, published El pelegrinage de la vida, Vicente de Mazuelo's translation of the Pelerinage de la vie humaine, written in verse by Guillaume de Deguileville in 1330. Although very popular in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, Deguileville's Pelerinage and its translations fell into relative obscurity in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Spanish version has received some attention from bibliographers because it was printed in France, but it has not been edited since 1490. This dissertation provides an edition of the Spanish Pelegrinage text as well as an initial exploration of its sources, characters, structure, and importance to the history of European incunabula.

The text was transcribed from Incunabula 1300 of the Biblioteca Nacional (Madrid). Punctuation was added to the edition to enhance its readability. Four of the remaining seven extant copies have also been examined: Escorial, Hispanic Society, New York Public Library Rare Book and Spenser Collections. Their variants are listed in an appendix.

The introduction to this edition examines the popularity of the French texts and their revisions and translations. Deguileville's Vie was translated into English, Dutch, and German, in addition to Spanish, and exists in some 100 manuscripts, and 16 early editions in French and in translation. The Spanish Pelegrinage was not translated from the original French verse, but from a mid-fifteenth century prose version by an anonymous clerk of Angers. The study also stresses the importance of the Spanish version in understanding the early printing trade in Toulouse, France.

The Pelegrinage contains a wealth of proverbs, Biblical stories and mythological references as well as descriptions of common occurrences relating to 14th and 15th century pilgrimages. These subjects are examined briefly, as are the personifications and structure of the text. Fifteen of the work's 46 woodcuts are included, with commentary about their relationship to the text.

The appendix includes a catalogue of all extant manuscripts and prints of the Pelerinage texts including its translations, with their shelf numbers and bibliographical information; a descriptive list of the 46 woodcuts used in the text, and a chronology of Deguileville's work and their translations.

Notes:

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-05, Section: A, page: 1274.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1985.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175.

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.