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Chelmaxioms : the maxims, axioms, maxioms of Chelm
Marked by allusion, erudition, and lyricism, Mandelbaum's poems relating the story of the town of Chelm are reflections and explorations of the Jewish tradition
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1977
8 people want to read
About the author
Allen Mandelbaum
38 books32 followers Allen Mandelbaum was an American professor of Italian literature, poet, and translator. A devout Jew, Mandelbaum is highly knowledgeable of Christianity.
His translation of the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri appeared between 1980 and 1984 — published by The University of California Press and supported by the notable Dante scholar Irma Brandeis. He subsequently acted as general editor of the California Lectura Dantis, a collection of essays on the Comedy; two volumes, on the Inferno and Purgatoria, have been published.
Mandelbaum received the National Book Award for his translation of Virgil's Aeneid, and is also the recipient of the Order of Merit from the Republic of Italy, the Premio Mondello, the Premio Leonardo, the Premio Biella, the Premio Lerici-Pea, the Premio Montale at the Montale Centenary in Rome, and the Circe-Sabaudia Award.
In 2000, Mandelbaum traveled to Florence, Italy, for the 735th anniversary of Dante's birth, and was awarded the Gold Medal of Honor of the City of Florence, in honor of his translation of the Divine Comedy. In 2003, he was awarded The Presidential Prize for Translation from the President of Italy, and received Italy's highest award, the Presidential Cross of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity.
Allen Mandelbaum died on Oct. 27 in Winston-Salem, N.C. He was 85. His son, Jonathan, said he died after a long illness.
His translation of the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri appeared between 1980 and 1984 — published by The University of California Press and supported by the notable Dante scholar Irma Brandeis. He subsequently acted as general editor of the California Lectura Dantis, a collection of essays on the Comedy; two volumes, on the Inferno and Purgatoria, have been published.
Mandelbaum received the National Book Award for his translation of Virgil's Aeneid, and is also the recipient of the Order of Merit from the Republic of Italy, the Premio Mondello, the Premio Leonardo, the Premio Biella, the Premio Lerici-Pea, the Premio Montale at the Montale Centenary in Rome, and the Circe-Sabaudia Award.
In 2000, Mandelbaum traveled to Florence, Italy, for the 735th anniversary of Dante's birth, and was awarded the Gold Medal of Honor of the City of Florence, in honor of his translation of the Divine Comedy. In 2003, he was awarded The Presidential Prize for Translation from the President of Italy, and received Italy's highest award, the Presidential Cross of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity.
Allen Mandelbaum died on Oct. 27 in Winston-Salem, N.C. He was 85. His son, Jonathan, said he died after a long illness.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 31, 2019
High Modernist, intentionally difficult (there is a glossary of terms at the back, but it is also not written straightforwardly), book-length poem about a "Chelm" which somehow represents the Jewish diaspora, not the traditional town of fools. The author was a National Book Award winning translator of Vergil* and Dante, and his book is replete with references to Romance history and literature, Kant, Leibniz, Spinoza, Averroes, Maimonides, and many yet more obscure. A sort of Jewish The Waste Land? They don't do this much nowadays. I was baffled by large parts, but still applaud the effort.
* I am told that this is the correct spelling but it still feels weird
* I am told that this is the correct spelling but it still feels weird
Displaying 1 of 1 review