Evening star., 1949-10-09

how has missed Cor hasn't miSsed)
the Phi. D. discipline and who never
has been a professor except on an
honorary basis, comes up with
what seems destined to be &C
cepted as the best English transla-
ton of The Ingenious Gentle
man Don Quixote de la Mancha.
Samuel Putnam has long been
welcome among us professors as
the outstanding American author
ity on Brazilian literature, as a
literary critic, as a palnstaklng
and gifted translator from French
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese
and as an anthologist and literary
historian.
Among his translations are ver-
sions of Rabelais, of Aretino
and of the Brazilian master
piece, Da Cunha's Rebellion IN
the Backlands" COS Sertoes). His
standing as liuerary critic and his
torian is attested by his European
Caravan" and mis- "Marvelous
Journey; a Survey of Four Gen.
turies of Brazilian Writings by hi:
long series of reviews, contributed
especially to Books Abroad" ane
by his many years of service a!
contributing editor in charge o1
Brazilian literature for the an
nual Handbook of Latin Amer
ican Studies.
A Mastery Translation.
Among all these achievements
however, I do not hesitate to pre-
dict that his mastery translation
of the masterpiece that Macaulay
called "the best novel in the world
and Prof. Sir Walter Raleigh OF
oxford "the wisest and most
splendid book in the world" will
be his lasting monument.
What less could one predict
for work that has deserved
the attention of a proved trans
lator for 16 years of devoted toll,
and which even the most cursory
examination reveals as highly ac-
curate, sympathetic and under
standing to a degree that only a
few of the many translations OF
the "Quixote" have attained. Put
nam belongs with John Ormsby.
Henry E. Watts and Robinson
Smith as a translator who Cd
really knows Spanish and CD
really understands Cervantes, his
times and his masterpiece.
A Fitting Dress.
The publishers have given "The
Putnam Translation" a fitting
dress, with fine Typography and
with paper and binding worthy OF
the dignity and permanent value
of their undertaking. One misses
illustrations, but in return the
edition has features lacking in
most translations intended for the
general public, an Illuminating in
PRODUCTION, a sketch OF the life
of Cervantes, comprehensive tex
tual and explanatory notes and
a photography. Moreover, this
edition contains material not al
ways found in previous versions,
such as the certificate of price, the
certificate of errata, the royal
and the "approbations"
for both parts I and II.
Mr.. Putnam does not, like one
of his few real competitors, Rob-
inson Smith. "duck" the difficult
ties involved in translating the
poems and other verse;
he even makes an experiment with
truncated verse in imitation of
the original. In the matter of text
he has followed the first editions
as reconstructed by the late Prof.
Schevill of the Univer-
sity of California, with explana-
tions of all departures therefrom,
as we'll as of doubtful or disputed
Pointing out that the
Spanish of Cervantes "is in es-
sence the Spanish of today" he
eschews a deliberately antiquated
style and vocabulary-that bane
of early translators-and at the
same time avoids "any modernism
that would be out of place and
SAVIOR of f1ippancy."
In this effort he has admirably
succeeded, though I cannot go