Customer Reviews

HarperCollins Sansoni Italian Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If you have taken the time to read the various reviews for this dictionary you will no doubt notice that there is some confusion regarding this product. I hope I can set the matter straight for the record and put the confusion to rest once and for all. I am one of those who purchased this dictionary from Amazon only to find that the jacket was correct but the dictionary under the jacket was the "Grande Rizzoli Larousse Dictionary". Naturally I was dismayed and annoyed. However, a little research revealed that I did infact receive the correct dictionary. How so? Well, I contacted "Collins" Publishing house directly and they very kindly explained the situation as follows.

The "HarperCollins Sansoni Unabridged Italian Dictionary" is produced for the U.S. market. The "Collins Sansoni Italian Dictionary, Complete & Unabridged" is produced for the U.K. market. Finally, the "Grande Rizzoli Larousse Dictionary" is produced for the Italian market. Consequently, all of these books are jacketed accordingly. The text of all three dictionaries is identical. All three dictionaries are the "Sansoni Dictionary" by "Vladimiro Macchi". Those of us that thought we received the wrong dictionary can breathe a sigh of relief. We did infact receive the correct dictionary jacketed for the U.S. market. The book inside the jacket is simply published by "Rizzoli Larousse" and is for all intense and purpose one and the same in every way that counts, as the dictionary published by "HarperCollins/ Collins".

I hope this review has been helpful and will go some way to put the mind of the prospective buyer at rest. After all it is a very fine dictionary. It is a large heavy volume and I received it in less than perfect condition because of poor packaging by Amazon. The shipping box did not contain any packing material so the book slid around freely picking up dinged corners and a creased jacket. This seems to be my constant experience purchasing from Amazon poor packaging that results in receiving my items in less than perfect condition. This is very frustrating. For this reason and because Amazon has seemingly done little to explain the cofusion surrounding this product I have rated this item accordingly. My review is not a reflection on the dictionary itself which is a masterly work.

This dictionary is one of the very few English-Italian dictionaries that indicate "open" and "closed" e's and o's. So what, you ask? Well, I admit, I speak for a specific group of people: classical singers and opera coaches. For us, and others to whom correct pronunciation of Italian is crucial, the Harper-Collins is a Godsend. This volume, together with the invaluable Zingarelli dictionary "Vocabolario della Lingua Italiana" (in which are found archaic, poetic, and defunct words and verb forms often used in opera libretti and classical songs), provide a solid base not only for singers and coaches, but anyone seriously interested in the Italian language. I HIGHLY recommend this dictionary.

This is a wonderfull dictionary, and the blue heading is great. I am a professional Italian-English interpreter & translator, as well an Italian instructor,therefore I have the experience to judge it.

I have an older edition and I purchased the dictionary as a gift for one of my best students. I was mortified when, with the student, I realized that that particular book was defective.

Thank you for replacing it.

Finally a dictionary that contains literally every word you could ever hope/need to find!! Awesome product.

I got it correctly, but I was scared because the dictionary has been sent in a "wrong" enclosure showing "Rizzoli-Larousse" dictionary, whereas inside there's the correct Collins' dictionary!

The dictionary is great, exactly as is written here: 900,000 entries, second, new edition.

Buy it with confidence.

This dictionary has every word you'll ever need to know and many examples of usage and idioms. If you need a comprehensive dictionary this is a good one. However....it has some shortcomings which should be fixed...in my opinion. The instructions on how to use the dictionary are incomplete. Some abbreviations and symbols used are either nowhere explained or so obscure as to render it almost impossible to find. It's darned frustrating to have to go to the internet to try to find the meaning of something contained in a dictionary. Further, while the dictionary lists present and past participles for irregular English verbs, not so for Italian. Perhaps that's because Italian verbs follow rules that make it easy for the experienced speaker of Italian to form the p.p. and past p., but I see it as a shortcoming. I also believe a few pages listing and briefly defining commonly used prepositions, conjunctions, and for Italian, the rules on definite and indefinite articles and matching gender and number would be extremely useful. These are simple yet useful items. All in all, it's a lot of book for the money.

When the Harper Collins Sansoni Italian Unabridged Dictionary arrived I was so disappointed. There was a whole section of pages that were "gathered" at the binding and the pages could not have been turned without tearing. However, I am happy to say that I received a complete refund very promptly after my "complaint". Actually I would not have rated it even one star but the system required a "vote".

Have you ever found yourself at a loss for words? Need to improve your vocabulary in Italian? An unabridged dictionary is a must have for anyone engaged in the study of the Italian language -- or any other language, for that matter!

Entries include: pronunciation, grammatical information (parts of speech & inflected forms), meanings, phraseology, translations, and dependent prepositions.

If you are serious about learning Italian then this is the best dictionary you can have.

I'd love to get this dictionary, but like others, twice Amazon sent me the wrong book. Both times I received the Grande Rizzoli Larousse English-Italian dictionary in the HarperCollins Sansoni jacket. I've received a refund from Amazon, but now I'm afraid of ordering from another vendors (B&N, Borders) thinking I'll have the same problem.