Hypnerotomachia Poliphili

By Francesco Colonna

Book Overview

One of the most famous books in the world, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, read by every Renaissance intellectual and referred to in studies of art and culture ever since, was first published in English by Thames & Hudson in 1999.

It is a strange, pagan, pedantic, erotic, allegorical, mythological romance relating in highly stylized Italian the quest of Poliphilo for his beloved Polia. The author (presumed to be Francesco Colonna, a friar of dubious reputation) was obsessed by architecture, landscape, and costume--it is not going too far to say sexually obsessed--and its 174 woodcuts are a primary source for Renaissance ideas on both buildings and gardens.

In 1592 an attempt was made to produce an English version but the translator gave up. The task has been triumphantly accomplished by Joscelyn Godwin, who succeeds in reproducing all its wayward charm and arcane learning in language accessible to the modern reader.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0500285497
• ISBN13: 9780500285497
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 1.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Gods, and bulls, and naked Greeks

This is fascinating. It attempts not only to translate Colonna's mixed Latin/Italian texts, but also to reproduce the look and feel of the original 1499 Aldine edition. Of course, all the woodcuts are there, and the typeface and layout also attempt to reproduce the original, which has long been famed as one of the most beautiful books ever printed. The architectural and other illustrations are strange, but they are perhaps the most intriguing thing about the book. Some are reminiscent of Beardsley; others bring to mind Baudelaire's vision of a city made entirely of marble and metal, from which all plants have been banished as asymmetrical.It will take quite a while to get through this. The peculiar mixed-language flavour of Colonna's prose is hard to reproduce in translation. The work is a long list of vaguely erotic dream-processions of gods and bulls and naked Greeks, with extensive descriptions of the architectural settings they appear in. With its unsparing strings of superlatives, it often reads like the florid descriptions of dishes found on the menu of an overreaching restaurant.In other words, I may not finish this, but it is fun to look at.

The Strife of Love in a Dream

Dr Joscelyn Godwin, musicologist author of that most excellent book on the music of the spheres "Harmonies of Heaven and Earth" claimed that Hypnerotomachia was one of the most significant and highly prized books of the Renaissance, so I simply had to experience this for myself. I've been plugging away at it now for almost 9 months, and nothing yet has happened. And evidently, that's the way it should be. This is a dream book. An insomniac's delight. It moves as slowly through its obsessive descriptions of the monuments, carved architectural ornaments, jewelled clothing, and occassional naked limbs of Parnassus as fruit ripening in perpetual springtime. It's a trick: A cure for lost love and reconciliation with the unattainable. And if you're having trouble remembering your own dreams, Hypnerotomachia might just help you develop the an inner language of words, symbols, and images to bridge waking and sleeping realities.The publisher Thames & Hudson has done an exemplary job fabricating a beautiful presentation volume, reproducing all of the engravings and typogography of the original. This is truly a book of substance: a 486 page artifact of sturdy paper weighing in at 6 lbs! (A small warning: even though Dr Godwin gives such thorough and helpful background information at the beginning, as well as charts and appendices for translation of the Latin and Greek phrases and Goddess names, do yourself the favor of avoiding p xiii, wherein the ending is blithly given away).How to rate this book? It's not for everyone. Masons might like it. Lutenists maybe. And night owls. I'm glad I bought mine. Though I must say it took awhile getting used to reading an adjective with every noun without laughing, and descriptions of marvels never stop short of superlative ("Their hair wafted gracefully, splendidly curled in many ringlets, made with an art and artistry that outdid every lascivious design and every nymphal voluptuousness..." to pick one at random). Nevertheless, Hypnerotomachia, stopping at every leaf, stone, flower, and ringlet, has been working its slow magic, imparting a direct sense of a certain kind of highly refined Renaissance imagination. I look forward to it at night as a comfort and perhaps a key. And as a physical entity in a world of dreams, a pleasure to handle.

A delightful translation of an amazing work

Joscelyn Godwin's translation has made the entire text of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili readily available to an Anglophone readership for the first time in the book's 501-year history, bringing to light what was formerly the preserve of a few savants deeply knowledgable in Renaissance Italian language and culture. What has always been accessible, meanwhile, namely the book's singularly elegant design, which combined numerous innovations in the fields of typography, page layout and illustration, have been painstakingly emulated by Thames and Hudson, and their printers, for this edition. One suspects that this book has more often been admired as an artefact and consummate relic of its time, than enjoyed as a work of literature, but Godwin's translation, which deliberately smooths many of the original text's convolutions, offers many delights, and immerses us in Poliphilo's fervent dream. The body of the book relates the hero's progress through his dreamworld, a paradise strewn with magnificent buildings and colossal ruins whose architecture is described in loving, even fetishistic detail; and populated for the most part by comely nymphs wearing diaphanous gowns. On the simplest level, this is escapist fantasy, embodying the author's sensual longings, and beyond that are, I presume, levels of allegorical meaning not obvious to a casual reader such as myself. By no means does one need, however, to understand every sign and symbol, in order to derive great pleasure from reading this amazing work.

A Beautiful Book

I've been hearing about the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili for yearsas some sort of mysterious work that inspired generations of artistsand writers. Original copies fetch enormous sums at auctions, and I'm glad that a complete modern edition has been produced for English speakers. Fortunately, Joscelyn Godwin didn't try to reproduce Francesco Colonna's difficult and idiosyncratic Italian in English, otherwise the book would have been as difficult to read as 'Ulysses' and needed another volume just for footnotes. Modern readers have little patience with description, and that's the sort writing that makes up the bulk of the HP. There's a story of love that keeps the protaganist moving from scene to scene, but the descriptions and woodcuts are the life of the book. It could serve as a pattern book for artists, sculpters, woodcarvers, and furniture makers. The illustrations are beautifully done although esoteric and strange to the modern eye. The graceful prose makes this enormous book easy to read.The binding and printing are top-form. The cover is full-cloth, and the reproductions of the woodcuts are clear. The paper is an easy-on-the-eyes cream color. The book is physically large and requires a slant-top reading table if one wants to read it for more than a few minutes. The size and quality of the HP reminds me that books once were valued objects rather than the cheap and disposable items they now mostly are...

Spectacular

This is a wonderful translation of an extraordinary book. Nearly 500 pages of sensual detailed descriptions of fantasy architecture, gardens, and travels along with a short love story. Creates a whole other world. Fun to read aloud.