Published by: jaybeere (Karma: 320.01) on 25 September 2007 | Views: 2832
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The Pharaoh and the Priest a historical novel of ancient Egypt by Boleslaw Prus translated from the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin
(Rare Book Collection)
This is an incomplete 1902 translation of Prus' classic historical novel, "Pharaoh." (It is missing the author's stunning Epilog, which was restored only later from the original manuscript.)
The translator, Jeremiah Curtin, demonstrates an abysmally poor understanding of the original text's Polish language, and an equally poor grasp of English style. His primitive knowledge of the book's subject matter and his inept, wooden, inaccurate translation--it contains some real howlers--help explain the novel's limited appreciation, until recently, among English-language readers.
