The Golden Legend: Selections (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Jacobo di Voragine (Author), Christopher Stace (Translator), Richard Hamer (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1999 | Series: Penguin Classics

One of the central texts of the Middle Ages, The Golden Legend deeply influenced the imagery of poetry, painting and stained glass with its fascinating descriptions of saints' lives and religious festivals. By creating a single-volume sourcebook of core Christian stories, Jacobus de Voragine (c. 1229-98) attracted a huge audience across Europe. This selection of over seventy biographies ranges from the first Apostles and Roman martyrs to near-contemporaries such as St Dominic, St Francis of Assissi and St Elizabeth of Hungary. Here, witnesses to the true faith endure horrific tortures; reformed prostitutes win divine forgiveness; while other women live disguised as monks or nobly resist lustful tyrants. Lucid and compelling, The Golden Legend offers an enthralling insight into the medieval mind.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Latin

About the Author

Jacobus de Voragine (c.1229-98) was the medieval Archbishop of Genoa. He entered the Dominican Order in 1244 and became prior of the Order in Lombardy in 1267. In 1292 he became Archbishop and in this capacity was actively engaged in peacemaking between the local feuding families.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140446486
• ISBN-13: 978-0140446487
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.1 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #422,568 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This edition is incomplete and therefore not worth buying, November 29, 2010

By 

Blaise - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Golden Legend: Selections (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Jacobus Voragine's "The Golden Legend" in and of itself deserves six stars. The amount of myth, artistic insight, and reference for all things medieval makes it a very valuable piece of literature and worth buying. Notice, however, how I listed myth as the first of a series of reasons why one would profit from such a book. For me, the very reason why I bought "The Golden Legend" was because of the knowledge that Voragine's accounts were stretched at best; perhaps dishonest. I was lured in through hearing how he made up etymologies for the saints' names, fabricated the history of their lives, and embellished truths in order to produce, intentionally or not, a more magnetic work. A work which shed ample amounts of light on human nature; and what's more fantastic is that this human nature was documented over 800 years ago: the need to lie, to stretch truths.
A True Masterpiece.
Imagine my disappointment when reading the preface of this version to hear that the translator/editor intentionally left out the most enlightening facet of the piece for the very reason why it is enlightening. The editor claims that these etymologies do not appear helpful and that they are not convincing. But I ask, does not the more unconvincing they are make them better? Is that not what makes Voragine so spectacular? Is his deception, his tendency to stretch truths what makes him most appealing?
For me:yes. For you: perhaps not.

Bottom line is that if you are looking for a document to help you with art history, or just in the mood for some good stories about saints, then this edition will do. If you are looking for a document that represents philosophy in literature, then Voragine is definitely for you, but this edition is not.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Fairy Tale Collection of All, June 14, 2010

By 

Giordano Bruno (Wherever I am, I am.) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Golden Legend: Selections (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Here it is, the Medieval compendium of hagiography (stories of the lives of saints) that did more to shape Medieval art and literature, popular ideas of sanctity and virtue, and arguably the whole popular belief structure of Christianity than any other, not even excluding the Bible! As the amazonian product description declares: "The Golden Legend is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand medieval imagery, art, and thought."
In fact, until the 20th C, virtually everyone would have read it. I'm calling attention to it because of its significance in Emile Zola's novella "The Dream" (La Reve), which I've just read and reviewed. But believe me, even the most secular high school car boy in Ventura knows some of the stories from the Legenda Aurea.
I searched for it here on amazon and found that editions in German and Latin outsell English translations; amazingly, many of the Lives are even available on "kindle" in Latin.
Besides being "fun" to read in small doses, the Golden legend is the best tour guide to Renaissance painting and sculpture you'll ever find. Take it with you on your next European vacation; you'll finally be able to make sense of all those stained glass windows.

5.0 out of 5 stars Dust off the Golden Legend, April 1, 2010

By 

Bene Dubitare (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

The most exhaustive lives of the saints I've come across, this book will delight Traditional Catholics. I wish I had read this book before spending two months in Italy, where I heard about it. Beginning with St. Andrew on Nov. 30th, the 71 saints selected are arranged in the order of their feast day according to the liturgical year.