Un Libro per Amico .it - www.unlibroperamico.it

The importance of the Legenda aurea for the Late Middle Ages can hardly be overestimated, as witness the impressive manuscript tradition of the original Latin text as well the different vernacular versions. This huge hagiographic collection, organised per circulum anni, can be considered as a compendium of the medieval religious worldview: it offers insights into the (deuterocanonic) tradition of the New Testament, the lives and deaths of the most important saints, the history of the church of Rome, and it can be read as a catechism in narrative form. But the Legenda aurea is also a treasure-trove of stories, motifs and themes splendidly reflecting medieval mentality in its entirety. The influence of the Legenda aurea on literature and iconography is so far-reaching, that the book is an indispensable aid for the ?reading? of countless medieval texts, paintings and sculptures.The text was translated several times into Middle Dutch and of the first southern Dutch translation (ca. 1357), made by Petrus Naghel (? 1395) in the Charterhouse of Herne, a modern edition is now available. This edition of the Gulden legende ?the second volume of a set of two ?contains the legends of Pope Urban to the Feast of Church Dedication, and carries a concise introduction. The first volume of the set will appear in print in 2013; it contains the remaining legends and an expansive introduction comprising an introduction of text and translator, a description of the manuscript used for the edition, a statement of editorial policy and indices of names.