The twelfth-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes is a major figure in European literature. His courtly romances fathered the Arthurian tradition and influenced countless other poets in England as well as on the continent. Yet because of the difficulty of capturing his swift-moving style in translation, English-speaking audiences are largely unfamiliar with the pleasures of reading his poems. Now, for the first time, an experienced translator of medieval verse who is himself a poet provides a translation of Chrétien’s major poem, Yvain, in verse that fully and satisfyingly captures the movement, the sense, and the spirit of the Old French original. Yvain is a courtly romance with a moral tenor; it is ironic and sometimes bawdy; the poetry is crisp and vivid. In addition, the psychological and the socio-historical perceptions of the poem are of profound literary and historical importance, for it evokes the emotions and the values of a flourishing, vibrant medieval past.

Five centuries of private collecting are represented in this publication of some of the finest art treasures preserved in Britain's historic houses. In addition to paintings by Canaletto, Van Dyck, Claude Lorrain, Gainsborough, Stubbs, Augustus John, and Lucian Freud, more unusual works include a death mask of Napoleon, a life mask of Charles I by Bernini, and a bracelet inset with portrait miniatures of Queen Victoria's children. Over 90 objects and paintings are presented from over 50 houses, including Blenheim Palace, Castle Howard, Chatsworth, Harewood House, and Longleat.

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