Orlando Furioso in English Heroical Verse, by Sr. John Harington of bathe knight

Title

Orlando Furioso in English Heroical Verse, by Sr. John Harington of bathe knight

Description

Book 1 - 51 of John Harington's English translation of Orlando-Furioso.Book Orlando Furioso by the Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto first in print. Based on the French Chanson de Roland, Ariosto told the fantastic adventures of a knight of Charlemagne, Roland (Orlando), and his companions. The main stories are about Orlando, driven mad by his unrequited love for Angelica, and the Christian warrior Bradamante, who falls in love with the Muslim hero Ruggiero. Many other subplots and minor characters fill the pages, making the work one of the longest poems of the Renaissance. “Orlando Furioso experiments wildly with tradition, stretching the chivalric world to its very limits, undoing its heroes, demolishing their beliefs, mocking their shortcomings... All its characters are uncharacteristically fallible and surprisingly human. And even if these heroes remain firmly embedded in a dazzlingly fantastic and chronologically remote dimension, Ariosto uses them to talk frankly to us, his readers, about our own desires and obsessions, our own failures and flaws, our own humanity." -- Dr. Claudia Rossignoli. Orlando Furioso was also one of the most popular literary works in 16th century Europe. After its first printing in 1516, hundreds of further editions appeared, many of which were profusely illustrated. The work was already known in England in the original Italian and in a French translation when Sir John Harington (1561-1612) published the first complete English translation in 1591. In 1607, Harington brought out a new edition, which contained various revisions and additions.

ca. 1607

Artist

Ludovico (1474-1533)

Ludovico Ariosto (1474 -1533 ) was an Italian humanist, military man, courtier and author. His main work, the verse epic Orlando furioso ("The Raging Roland"), is considered one of the most important texts in Italian literature and was received throughout Europe. After attending Latin school in Ferrara from 1484, Ariost began studying law at the university there in 1489 at his father's request. He did not complete it, however, but devoted himself primarily to humanistic studies. Here he became friends with the slightly older Pietro Bembo, who later became an important author, linguistic theorist and eventually a cardinal. He also shared with him an interest in recent vernacular Italian literature. In 1493 he joined a theater troupe that put on plays at court. He was always active as a writer, for example with a series of verse satires (1517-25) combining biographical, political and general human aspects. Here, in the first, he reflects on the constraints of courtly existence and justifies why he did not follow Ippolito to Hungary. In a second, he polemicizes against the papal court, which had often disappointed him. In 1525, after briefly serving as artistic director of the Ferrara court theater, Ariost retired to an existence as a private citizen. The epic, now republished in 1532 in 46 cantos, about the struggles of Roland and the paladins of Charlemagne with the pagans over Roland's love for the flighty Angelica and the love between Ruggero and Bradamante, the alleged founders of the House of Este, was very successful and was reprinted almost two hundred times in the 16th century alone. Even Voltaire and Goethe appreciated the work. In 532, Ariost accompanied his duke, whom he had repeatedly served as an advisor, to Mantua for negotiations with Emperor Charles V. After returning home, Ariost fell ill. After returning home, he fell seriously ill and never recovered.