Giorgio Melchiori
Encyclopedia
Giorgio Melchiori CBE
FBA (19 August 1920 – 8 February 2009) was an Italian literary critic and translator. His scholarly work was focused on the Early Modern English
literature
of the Elizabethan
and Jacobean
eras.
and subsequently in Sapienza University of Rome, initially in the faculty of Literature and Philosophy, then later in the Faculty of Education, and at Roma Tre University
Scholarships and arrived in England in 1944 where he was at once officially classified as an “Enemy Alien”. Notwithstanding this inauspicious beginning the year spent in the University College of Hull was the start of a long and close relationship with the country where he spent a part of every year lecturing, reading and theatre-going. The early friendship and encouragement of Sir Herbert Read was invaluable in publishing the essays which formed the nucleus of his first book The Tightrope Walkers, essays on Mannerism in contemporary English literature, a book which was immediately well received and which helped him to make many friends in the world of Anglo-Saxon literary criticism. Another invaluable formative experience during this first post-war immersion in English culture was a six-week intensive course on editing organised by the British Council for a small group of international students held in Barford, near Stratford-on-Avon in 1945 where Melchiori came into close personal contact with John Dover Wilson, Clifford Leech, C.J.Sisson and a number of other greatly experienced editors of Elizabethan texts. This early training in philology laid the foundation for his editions many years later of The Merry Wives of Windsor (2000) and Edward III (1998) for Arden, of Henry IV part 2 (2000) for the New Cambridge, of John Marston’s The Insatiate Countess (1984) for Manchester University Press and, together with Vittorio Gabrieli, of Anthony Munday’s The Book of Sir Thomas More (1990) for Manchester University Press.
Melchiori likewise edited the nine-volume annotated edition of Shakespeare’s plays (English texts with Italian translations) for the classic Meridiani edition published by Mondadori in Milan, a work completed in 1991. Besides many essays on Shakespeare and on the Elizabethans (a complete bibliography is to be found in the Italian entry under his name in Wikipedia) he published two books on Shakespeare, one a detailed examination of the only four Sonnets addressed neither to the young man nor to the dark lady: Shakespeare’s Dramatic Meditations; an experiment in criticism (Oxford 1976), and Shakespeare’s Garter Plays (Delaware, 1994).
Throughout his life Melchiori was also deeply interested in Irish literature
and was responsible for the definitive revision of the Italian translation of James Joyce
’s Ulysses
Mondadori (1960 ). He founded and edited the annual review Joyce Studies in Italy in 1984, now edited by Franca Ruggieri, and published The Whole Mystery of Art: Pattern into Poetry in the Work of W.B.Yeats (Routledge,London, 1960) a study of the influence of the visual arts on the work of W.B Yeats.
His book on The Taste of Henry James, written with Barbara Melchiori and published in Italian by Einaudi in 1974 is to be found on line in its original English version in http://www.e-book4free.com.
Throughout his life Melchiori was a tireless translator and especially in the early years after the war, in an effort to compensate for the period during which the Fascist regime had discouraged the teaching of English language in Italy, he did much to make available Italian versions of English classics, both novels and poetry. He accepted the challenge when called upon to translate William Empson
’s Seven Types of Ambiguity and the Italian version contains a page completely re-written by Empson who admitted that he could no longer explain what he had originally written. Especially outstanding were Melchiori’s bi-lingual anthologies of the poems of John Donne and of the Metaphysical poets, still widely used by students today.
Starting life with a wide knowledge of the visual arts (his first book, never translated, was a study in Italian of Michelangelo in English literature) his main pleasure was in theatre, cinema and opera, recordings of the latter during his last years of blindness were a constant refuge as two of his last publications Shakespeare all’opera: i drammi nella librettistica italiana (2006) and The Music of Words. From Madrigal to Drama and Beyond: Shakespeare Foreshadowing an Operatic Technique (2008) bear witness.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
FBA (19 August 1920 – 8 February 2009) was an Italian literary critic and translator. His scholarly work was focused on the Early Modern English
Early Modern English
Early Modern English is the stage of the English language used from about the end of the Middle English period to 1650. Thus, the first edition of the King James Bible and the works of William Shakespeare both belong to the late phase of Early Modern English...
literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
of the Elizabethan
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
and Jacobean
Jacobean era
The Jacobean era refers to the period in English and Scottish history that coincides with the reign of King James VI of Scotland, who also inherited the crown of England in 1603 as James I...
eras.
Career
Melchiori held the Chairs of English in the University of TurinUniversity of Turin
The University of Turin is a university in the city of Turin in the Piedmont region of north-western Italy...
and subsequently in Sapienza University of Rome, initially in the faculty of Literature and Philosophy, then later in the Faculty of Education, and at Roma Tre University
In Britain
A student of Mario Praz who created a formidable group of scholars during the years of the Second World War, Melchiori was awarded one of the first post-war British CouncilBritish Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
Scholarships and arrived in England in 1944 where he was at once officially classified as an “Enemy Alien”. Notwithstanding this inauspicious beginning the year spent in the University College of Hull was the start of a long and close relationship with the country where he spent a part of every year lecturing, reading and theatre-going. The early friendship and encouragement of Sir Herbert Read was invaluable in publishing the essays which formed the nucleus of his first book The Tightrope Walkers, essays on Mannerism in contemporary English literature, a book which was immediately well received and which helped him to make many friends in the world of Anglo-Saxon literary criticism. Another invaluable formative experience during this first post-war immersion in English culture was a six-week intensive course on editing organised by the British Council for a small group of international students held in Barford, near Stratford-on-Avon in 1945 where Melchiori came into close personal contact with John Dover Wilson, Clifford Leech, C.J.Sisson and a number of other greatly experienced editors of Elizabethan texts. This early training in philology laid the foundation for his editions many years later of The Merry Wives of Windsor (2000) and Edward III (1998) for Arden, of Henry IV part 2 (2000) for the New Cambridge, of John Marston’s The Insatiate Countess (1984) for Manchester University Press and, together with Vittorio Gabrieli, of Anthony Munday’s The Book of Sir Thomas More (1990) for Manchester University Press.
Melchiori likewise edited the nine-volume annotated edition of Shakespeare’s plays (English texts with Italian translations) for the classic Meridiani edition published by Mondadori in Milan, a work completed in 1991. Besides many essays on Shakespeare and on the Elizabethans (a complete bibliography is to be found in the Italian entry under his name in Wikipedia) he published two books on Shakespeare, one a detailed examination of the only four Sonnets addressed neither to the young man nor to the dark lady: Shakespeare’s Dramatic Meditations; an experiment in criticism (Oxford 1976), and Shakespeare’s Garter Plays (Delaware, 1994).
Throughout his life Melchiori was also deeply interested in Irish literature
Irish literature
For a comparatively small island, Ireland has made a disproportionately large contribution to world literature. Irish literature encompasses the Irish and English languages.-The beginning of writing in Irish:...
and was responsible for the definitive revision of the Italian translation of James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
’s Ulysses
Ulysses (novel)
Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...
Mondadori (1960 ). He founded and edited the annual review Joyce Studies in Italy in 1984, now edited by Franca Ruggieri, and published The Whole Mystery of Art: Pattern into Poetry in the Work of W.B.Yeats (Routledge,London, 1960) a study of the influence of the visual arts on the work of W.B Yeats.
His book on The Taste of Henry James, written with Barbara Melchiori and published in Italian by Einaudi in 1974 is to be found on line in its original English version in http://www.e-book4free.com.
Throughout his life Melchiori was a tireless translator and especially in the early years after the war, in an effort to compensate for the period during which the Fascist regime had discouraged the teaching of English language in Italy, he did much to make available Italian versions of English classics, both novels and poetry. He accepted the challenge when called upon to translate William Empson
William Empson
Sir William Empson was an English literary critic and poet.He was known as "燕卜荪" in Chinese.He was widely influential for his practice of closely reading literary works, fundamental to the New Critics...
’s Seven Types of Ambiguity and the Italian version contains a page completely re-written by Empson who admitted that he could no longer explain what he had originally written. Especially outstanding were Melchiori’s bi-lingual anthologies of the poems of John Donne and of the Metaphysical poets, still widely used by students today.
Starting life with a wide knowledge of the visual arts (his first book, never translated, was a study in Italian of Michelangelo in English literature) his main pleasure was in theatre, cinema and opera, recordings of the latter during his last years of blindness were a constant refuge as two of his last publications Shakespeare all’opera: i drammi nella librettistica italiana (2006) and The Music of Words. From Madrigal to Drama and Beyond: Shakespeare Foreshadowing an Operatic Technique (2008) bear witness.