Italy’s greatest novel and a masterpiece of world literature, The Betrothed chronicles the unforgettable romance of Renzo and Lucia, who endure tyranny, war, famine, and plague to be together. Published in 1827 but set two centuries earlier, against the tumultuous backdrop of seventeenth-century Lombardy during the Thirty Years’ War, The Betrothed is the story of two peasant lovers who want nothing more than to marry. Their region of northern Italy is under Spanish occupation, and when the vicious Spaniard Don Rodrigo blocks their union in an attempt to take Lucia for himself, the couple must struggle to persevere against his plots—which include false charges against Renzo and the kidnapping of Lucia by a robber baron called the Unnamed—while beset by the hazards of war, bread riots, and a terrifying outbreak of bubonic plague. First and foremost a love story, the novel also weaves issues of faith, justice, power, and truth into a sweeping epic in the tradition of Ivanhoe, Les Misérables, and War and Peace. Groundbreakingly populist in its day and hugely influential to succeeding generations, Alessandro Manzoni’s masterwork has long been considered one of Italy’s national treasures. Translated by Archibald Colquhoun
"This marriage is not supposed to happen." Lombardy, 1628, a time of oppressive Spanish occupation of Northern Italy, and of the Thirty Years' War. The young lovers Lorenzo and Lucia, both from peasant families, are planning their wedding. However, the villainous Don Rodrigo has designs on Lucia, and the lovers are forced to flee their village. Their dangerous journey in exile takes them through one of the most dramatic epochs in Italian history, filled with war, famine and plague - will they ever be able to find happiness together? Dave Eggers says, of the series: "I couldn't be prouder to be a part of it. Ever since Alessandro conceived this idea I thought it was brilliant. The editions that they've complied have been lushly illustrated and elegantly designed."
A French reader for intermediate students La Fugue de Bach (Lango and Bouotégége) is a mystery reader designed to motivate students to read in French. The story takes place in Geneva, where a prima ballerina has been found murdered before one of the most important performances of her life. This reader is softcover, 6” × 9”, and 128 pages in length.
Alessandro Manzoni was a giant of nineteenth-century European literature whose I promessi sposi (The Betrothed, 1928) is ranked with War and Peace as marking the summit of the historical novel. Manzoni wrote “Del romanzo storico” (“On the Historical Novel”) during the twenty years he spent revising I promessi sposi. This first English translation of On the Historical Novel reflects the insights of a great craftsman and the misgivings of a profound thinker. It brings up to the nineteenth century the long war between poetry and history, tracing the idea of the historical novel from its origins in classical antiquity. It declares the historical novel—and presumably I promessi sposi itself—dead as a genre. Or perhaps it justifies I promessi sposi as the climax of a genre and the end of a stage of human consciousness. Its importance lies both in its prospective and in its retrospective contributions to literary debate.
Winner of the Bagutta Prize, The Manzoni Family set in ducal Italy and post-revolutionary France, captures the story of Alessandro Manzoni—celebrated Milanese nobleman, man of letters, and author of the masterpiece of nineteenth-century Italian literature, I promessi sposi (The Betrothed)—and the women of his life. The dynastic tale begins with the matriarchal figure of Giulia, the mother whom the young Alessandro Manzoni found in Paris after she had abandoned him as an infant. Following her, there is Enrichetta, the woman he and his mother chose to be his wife, and the many children she had by him until her death; literary friends from the beau monde in Italy and Paris; and Alessandro's second wife, Teresa, and her children. Against the background of Napoleonic occupation, the reestablishment of Austrian hegemony, and the stirrings of the revolutionary urge for unification and independence, Ginzburg gracefully weaves the story of the Manzoni dynasty, a family that seems to grow autonomously around the life of the writer, effortlessly incorporating the epic tumult and emotion of the age. Ginzburg explores this fascinating true story and celebrated author with the elegance that has assured her rightful place among history’s acclaimed literary titans.
Originally published between 1909 and 1917 under the name "Harvard Classics," this stupendous 51-volume set-a collection of the greatest writings from literature, philosophy, history, and mythology-was assembled by American academic CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT (1834-1926), Harvard University's longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliot's belief that a basic liberal education could be gleaned by reading from an anthology of works that could fit on five feet of bookshelf. Volume XXI features the 1827 novel I Promessi Sposi (The Bethrothed), by Italian writer ALESSANDRO MANZONI (1785-1873), considered the most beloved work in the Italian language. A historical romance inspired by Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, it is the tale of lovers Renzo and Lucia and their quest to be together. Beautifully evocative of its 17th-century setting, it is noted for its dramatic depiction of plague-addled Milan.
The story is set in the seventeenth century, in the Duchy of Milan, then a Spanish possession in northern Italy; however, the plot is merely a pretext for the author to weave a timeless and universal tale that touches on every human feeling, passion, and behavior. In compelling fashion, love, hate, prejudice, vengeance, forgiveness, fear, courage, crime, punishment, redemption, treachery, loyalty, religion, superstition, love of country, devotion to duty, generosity, greed, art, science, politics, economics, and emigration come together in this book, making it, unquestionably, one of the giants of foreign literature. The book opens as two of Don Rodrigos toughs order the local parish priest, Father Abbondio, not to marry Lucia to Renzo--she a beautiful, honest and deeply religious country girl, he a sensible, upright and God-fearing craftsman. Don Rodrigo is an arrogant aristocrat able to impose his will on those around him thanks to an overall social structure that favors the powerful and preys on the downtrodden. He has forbidden the marriage because he has bet his cousin that he will seduce Lucia, and has set a deadline for his deed. The fearful priest obeys Don Rodrigos order, but a saintly monk, Brother Christopher, tries to dissuade him from lusting after the girl. Irritated by the friars plea, Don Rodrigo decides to kidnap Lucia, to be certain of possessing her before the expiration of the bet deadline. He fails because Lucia is not at home at the time of the attempted abduction. Trying to take advantage of a loophole in the law which allows two people to declare themselves man and wife (provided a priest is present), she and Renzo have gone to Father Abbondios residence, to force him to witness their exchange of vows. However, Father Abbondio, afraid of Don Rodrigos retribution, foils the two young peoples attempt. His screams cause his sexton to ring out the general alarm from the churchs bell tower. The fiancs, the would-be kidnappers, and the entire village are thrown in total disarray. Brother Christopher helps Lucia find safe haven in a convent, and makes arrangements for Renzo to find work in Milan, away from Don Rodrigos fury. Immediately after arriving in Milan, Renzo is, however, caught up in a bread riot sparked by a government-decreed price increase. He is framed and arrested as one of the riot ringleaders, but is able to escape to a neighboring country, where he is forced to disguise his identity. Since Don Rodrigos is not powerful enough to infiltrate Lucias place of asylum, he seeks the help of another man, "whose long arm often reached farther than his enemies eyes." Lucia is treacherously abducted and taken to this ferocious overlords castle, from where she is to be turned over to Don Rodrigo. However, the overlord has secretly been harboring serious concerns over his past crimes. Lucias plight and pleadings help precipitate his crisis of conscience. He goes to see Cardinal Federigo, who is on a pastoral visit in a nearby village, and, with the Cardinals encouragement, decides to change his way of life. Lucia is freed unharmed, but is still unable to return home because of the ever present threat from Don Rodrigo. So, she goes to live in Milan, under the protection of a powerful, well meaning, but rather eccentric couple. There, she has to wage a constant struggle with herself, because on the night of her abduction she had made a vow that she would remain a virgin if she could safely come out of that predicament. Though still deeply in love with Renzo, she is determined to keep her vow because of her strong religious faith. War, famine and pestilence further complicate the lives of the two young people but, at long last, Renzo is able to go looking for Lucia, and finds her in a hospital, recovering from the plague. Brother Christopher, who had gone to that same place to care for the diseased and the moribund, counsels Lucia on her vow, and releases her from it. Don Rodrigo dies from the plague, and the two fiancs are finally free to marry. They move to Renzos adopted country and from then on lead a comfortable and serene life, made all the more pleasant by their past suffering and their trust in God.
I promessi sposi; or the betrothed lovers. A milanese story of the seventeenth century. Translated for the metropolitan, from the italian of alessandro manzoni, by G. W. Featherstonhaugh. Entered according to Act of Congress of 1831, by Duff Green, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Columbia. Stereotyped and published by Duff Green
