Description
“… From his mouth they all said one reason: God, what a good vassalo, if only you were good Lord!”
El Poema de Mío Cid is the first literary monument of importance in the Spanish language, and is one of the peaks of medieval epic and a basic work of Spanish culture.
This facsimile edition reproduces, with extraordinary fidelity and quality, Per Abbat’s manuscript, dated 1207 and kept in the National Library of Spain. It was made in 2007 in commemoration of the VIII centenary of the only surviving manuscript of the Poema de Mío Cid. Exclusive edition, numbered and limited to 800 copies with notarial certificate. The complementary study volume includes the version by Pedro Salinas and a prologue by Alberto Montaner.
The only medieval manuscript that has transmitted the Cantar de Mio Cid in its poetic form is the so-called “Vivar codex”, as this town in Burgos, the Cid’s small homeland, is the place of its oldest known origin, which is currently guarded in the vault of the National Library of Spain.
The author is unknown, but being a chanson de geste, it is possible that it was recited in public until someone transferred it to paper, an event that occurred in 1207 when the Spanish clergyman Per Abbat copied it and remained as a perennial testimony of Spanish literature. .
The rich Castilian epic tradition reached its highest point early with this work. The Poem is above all the story of an archetypal epic hero who recovers his honor through the effort of his arm, it is the glorification of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, el Cid. One of the most important literary myths that Spain has contributed to universal culture, being at the same level as the French Roland, the German Siegfried, the Greek Achilles or the Roman Aeneas.
This edition reproduces in facsimile of extraordinary quality the manuscript of Per Abbat dated in the year 1207. It is the only stamped edition and with covers based on those of the unique codex, and has been made from the Poema published in 1961 by the General Directorate of Archives and Libraries, given the material impossibility of physically accessing the original due to its poor condition. The format is 16.3 x 21 cm. It has 154 pages, printed in four colors on specially manufactured 110-gram laid paper and handcrafted one by one to match the original. It is bound on board in goatskin, aged with hardware.
The facsimile book has been printed in stochastic weft, manipulated and aged in all its folios in a completely handmade way, hand-sewn and bound in goatskin with hardware, just as the original is today.
The edition is completed, in a separate volume, with the version of the Poem made by Pedro Salinas, with a prologue by Alberto Montaner Frutos, Professor at the University of Zaragoza. Format 15.3 x 21 cm. 192 pages. Bound in brown cloth with gilt titles.
Both books are presented in a beautiful and elegant case with a magnetic closure, which also contains the notary certificate that authenticates the limited edition of 800 copies. Format 25.5 x 30.3 x 5.8 cm.
An extraordinary work, the best and most faithful edition to date of the original manuscript of the Poema del Mío Cid! A great literary and historical work that should not be missing in any good library worth its salt, and an ideal gift for oneself or for any lover of good books, literature and history, at any time: Christmas, Kings, anniversaries, celebrations…
Complete copy in perfect condition, new, unused.
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