[Italian] Collezione di poetesse italiane dal 1290 al 1855 (anthology of Italian women poets)

[Kazbek]

Full title, Gemme, o Collezione di poetesse italiane antiche e moderne dal 1290 al 1855 opera per cura e studio di Luigi Cancrini (1855), 322 pages. That is, an anthology of Italian women poets. As expected, a large portion of the collection draws on the poetry of the Italian Renaissance, which is possibly the most substantial body of poetry written by women before modern times in Europe. Includes biographical sketches at the end of the book. It would be a ton of work to set up the MW and for the MC, but I think it would make a great collaborative project.

https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_H_4_qDMMO5AC/page/n3

I'm posting it here besides the Italian subthread, because the latter seems to be dormant.

Titolo completo, Gemme, o Collezione di poetesse italiane antiche e moderne dal 1290 al 1855 opera per cura e studio di Luigi Cancrini (1855), 322 pagine. Come ci si aspetterebbe, una grande parte della collezione consiste della poesia del Rinascimento, che è forse la più notevole fra le collezioni di poesie scritte da donne prima dei tempi moderni in Europa. Cenni biografici si trovano alla fine del libro. Ci sarebbe un sacco di lavoro da fare per la MW e MC, ma penso che sarebbe un ottimo progetto collaborativo. Chiedo scusa per il mio italiano.

Thoughts? Che cosa ne pensa? I'm hesitant to take this on as my first collaborative BC attempt and given my shaky Italian.

Michael

[paola toldo]

It's a beautiful idea!
Let me know about this project.

[Iunta4Ios]

The project looks interesting.
If it starts I would like to participate to it!
Pier

[Kazbek]

Thank you, Paola and Pier! You've inspired me to BC it.

The anthology contains about 250 poems by some 100 authors. That would make a very large LV collection! I'd like to do this in two parts (or more), and I think there's a natural breaking point on p. 107. This is the end of poems by Maria Maddalena Morelli Fernandez (1727–1800), and the next author is Giovanna de Nobili (1775-1847). So, we can start with a project that takes us to the end of the 18th century and leave the rest for a follow-up. This would give us around 100 poems by 64 authors. If that sounds reasonable, I'll try to get the project set up within the next week or two.

Michael

[Kazbek]

I've asked for advice on the help forum, and the new plan that came out of that discussion is to do a collection of Italian poems by women without limiting ourselves to a particular era or book. I'll pick a few poems to start off the MW (for readers who want to contribute, but don't have time to look for poems) and invite others to pick additional selections, listing a few PD sources that they can draw upon. If you already know some poems you'd like me to put in the MW, feel free to mention them in this thread. In the meantime, I'll need to do some reading.

Michael

[schrm]

I've asked for advice on the help forum, and the new plan that came out of that discussion is to do a collection of Italian poems by women without limiting ourselves to a particular era or book. I'll pick a few poems to start off the MW (for readers who want to contribute, but don't have time to look for poems) and invite others to pick additional selections, listing a few PD sources that they can draw upon. If you already know some poems you'd like me to put in the MW, feel free to mention them in this thread. In the meantime, I'll need to do some reading.

Michael

i don't know many poems in italian.. but as my italian classes in school were about 20 years ago, i often wanted to contribute in italia projects but couldn't understand the texts.. which reduces fun and is missing "the sense" of reading for librivox, i think.
so, if you are able to find any (let's say) "easy" language and easy to understand poems, i would definitely like to contribute!

[Kazbek]

i don't know many poems in italian.. but as my italian classes in school were about 20 years ago, i often wanted to contribute in italia projects but couldn't understand the texts.. which reduces fun and is missing "the sense" of reading for librivox, i think.
so, if you are able to find any (let's say) "easy" language and easy to understand poems, i would definitely like to contribute!

I think it's normal to have some difficulty understanding older Italian texts, even for Italians (some texts and Italians more than others, of course ). Modern Italian editions of classic works often include clarifying footnotes, in some cases longer than the text itself! I personally like to use bilingual editions for poetry, using the translation as a sort of footnote I can consult for clarification. Even for an older text I can easily read, I like to keep a translation around for reference just in case I come across a phrase that stumps me. Many difficult passages suddenly become very easy once you find out what they're supposed to mean. Older texts also become much easier with more exposure to the language of that time. I was once shocked to hear that some German speakers find the language of Goethe's time to be difficult. Since I learned German largely by reading books from that era, I've always found them to be the easiest kind of German.

I'm now actually starting to worry that some of the best Italian poems by women may contain some passages that are difficult to parse even for our Italian readers, if they have to work from uncommented PD sources, which may discourage them from recording them. Part of why I want to pre-select some poems is because I could draw on some non-PD translations I have and paraphrase some passages I found difficult into (my bad) modern Italian in the discussion thread.

I'll also keep an eye out for any particularly good and easy poems I come across. More generally, it would be nice to have a wider selection of collaborative projects in Italian that readers of different interests could contribute to. Perhaps we can pick and launch another one or two afterwards.

Michael

[schrm]

I think it's normal to have some difficulty understanding older Italian texts, even for Italians (some texts and Italians more than others, of course ). Modern Italian editions of classic works often include clarifying footnotes, in some cases longer than the text itself! I personally like to use bilingual editions for poetry, using the translation as a sort of footnote I can consult for clarification. Even for an older text I can easily read, I like to keep a translation around for reference just in case I come across a phrase that stumps me. Many difficult passages suddenly become very easy once you find out what they're supposed to mean. Older texts also become much easier with more exposure to the language of that time. I was once shocked to hear that some German speakers find the language of Goethe's time to be difficult. Since I learned German largely by reading books from that era, I've always found them to be the easiest kind of German.

I'm now actually starting to worry that some of the best Italian poems by women may contain some passages that are difficult to parse even for our Italian readers, if they have to work from uncommented PD sources, which may discourage them from recording them. Part of why I want to pre-select some poems is because I could draw on some non-PD translations I have and paraphrase some passages I found difficult into (my bad) modern Italian in the discussion thread.

I'll also keep an eye out for any particularly good and easy poems I come across. More generally, it would be nice to have a wider selection of collaborative projects in Italian that readers of different interests could contribute to. Perhaps we can pick and launch another one or two afterwards.

Michael

rule number 1: never get frustrated
im feeling sorry, when i caused some doubts in your preparings...
actually, in the book you linked, i was looking at the last 5 pages or so (old habit, please don't ask), and saw 3 poems? or fragments? i am able to understand (or could understand with a little bit of working on it).
so, thank you for finding this book and possible poems

[Kazbek]

Great, hope you'll be able to contribute! Don't worry, my concerns were prompted by browsing some Renaissance era poetry, not by your reply.

Michael