The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

~ Jacobus de Voragine (Author), William Granger Ryan (Translator) "The Lord's advent is celebrated for four weeks to signify that his coming is fourfold: he came to us in the flesh, he comes into..." (more)
Key Phrases: apocryphal history, Holy Spirit, Saint Peter, Saint John (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

This new translation by William Granger Ryan . . . offers the modern reader a window into popular piety of the High Middle Ages and sharpens the fuzzy recollection most of us have of the stories passed down in the Christian oral tradition of the fantastic feats of ancient and medieval saints. -- Review

Review

Art historians depend on it....Medievalists should know it inside-out.... [F]or the rest of us it remains a treasure-house of European culture, crammed full of the things which everyone, once upon a time, used to know.
(Noel Malcolm Sunday Telegraph )

[The Golden Legend] came to serve as the literary equivalent of wall-paintings and stained glass.... [F]or the translation of the work in its entirety into English we have had to wait 700 years for the energy and learning of a distinguished American academic, William Granger Ryan.
(Gerard Irvine The Times Literary Supplement )

A labor of love, as well as a product of great erudition. The translation is a complete, thoughtful, and judicious one.
(Thomas Head The Catholic Historical Review )

An unequaled source book for the study of the art and literature of the high Middle Ages.... [de Voragine] showed himself to be a narrative artist of the first rank, and in Ryan's fine English version we have a splendid volume that can take its place somewhere between Butler's Lives of the Saints and Aesop's Fables.
(George Sim Johnston The New Criterion )

To the labor of Father Ryan, whose stylish translation now affords us the means [to eye Voragine's purpose and method], we owe an enormous debt.
(Brian Masters Literary Review )

This new translation by William Granger Ryan . . . offers the modern reader a window into popular piety of the High Middle Ages and sharpens the fuzzy recollection most of us have of the stories passed down in the Christian oral tradition of the fantastic feats of ancient and medieval saints.
(America )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 410 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (March 20, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691001537
• ISBN-13: 978-0691001531
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #123,240 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The secondmost read book in Christendom, January 24, 1997

By A Customer

The Blessed Jacobus's compilation of the miraculous, "Golden Legend" carries you along as it brings you through the image-filled lives of the saints. Crowded, in a most woundrous fashion, with miracles, long martyrdoms, impossible but believable feats, quotable lines, long explanations of extreme intricacy, intriguing dialogue and a most enjoyable theme, it is enjoyable for those who read page after page and enjoy the long story, ending in triumph. It can also be accessible to those who enjoy anecdotes, except here they are pious. They begin the same way, usually--"A friar minor..." or such. It's hard to stop paging through it

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh when the saints, November 21, 2005

By	Brian J. Fegely "Pennsylvania Freemason" (Philadelphia PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Although I cannot speak to the accuracy of the translation, I recommend this work of the Middle Ages for anyone with a more-than-passing curiosity about the cult of saints, and the way legends and stories expand even with previous written source material. The apologetics written about the birth-names of each saint are at times whimsical and at others intriguing. The Church calendar is also given some explanation here, sometimes why a saint's day was moved by the ecclesiastical authorities, unfazed that the person's true birthday or martyrdom was no longer commemorated. There are two volumes, of which this is one.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Half illuminating, March 12, 2006

By	D. Henrich (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This is one of the best "Saints Lives" books I've seen. The translation is lively, and the entries read more as stories and less as a catalog of horrors (as sometimes happens with the lives of saints). There's just one problem - this is just one of a set. You'll need to buy the other volume to get the full effect.