The great Slavic medieval epic, The Igor Tale, recounts the story of a Russian prince who leads his men into battle against the Mongols. In 1935, Soviet scholar P.N. Berkov began to compile a bibliography of Western European translations of the poem, later followed by several Soviet Union biographies compiling the works on the epic that had appeared in the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union. Here, Cooper attempts to remedy the shortcomings of previous scholar work: to seriously survey the large body of non-Soviet scholarship on the poem particularly Western contributions to Igor scholarship. Originally published in 1978, Cooper traces foreign scholarship and translations from 1900-1976 from a wide variety of Western and some Eastern nations including the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, Poland, Japan and many other countries. This title is a valuable resource for students of Literature and Slavic Studies.

The final chapter sets the early medieval developments into the perspective of the history and culture of modern Europe. A series of specially compiled maps chart the main cultural changes taking place over six centuries in this relatively unknown part of Europe."--BOOK JACKET.

The author of Lolita translates the celebrated, medieval epic Russian poem about a doomed campaign led by Prince Igor Sviatoslavich the Brave. A chivalric expedition is undertaken in the late twelfth century by a minor prince in the land of Rus’ to defeat, against overwhelming odds, a powerful alliance in a neighboring territory. The anonymous poet who chronicled this adventure packed unprecedented metaphorical agility, keenness of observation, and fascinating imagery into the lean and powerful tale of the doomed campaign. Discovered in the late eighteenth century and only narrowly distributed, the original manuscript was destroyed in a fire, leading to endless debate about the provenance and authenticity of the extant versions. It also served as the basis of Borodin’s opera Prince Igor. Translated by Vladimir Nabokov, the verses that constitute “The Song of Igor’s Campaign” are presented in their original rhyme and meter, and Nabokov’s extensive annotations provide illuminations on all the aspects of the text.