Two new books
 

I haven’t posted on the Sphere for a while, even if I sometimes, more often lately, have looked in. I’ll be back when the mood strikes. In the meantime, this is to announce a couple of new publications, a booklet of my Dante essays plus a volume which I edited and introduced.

The Quest for Knowledge in Dante’s Convivio comes out of my project (almost completed) of making a new annotated translation of Dante’s unfinished philosophical work the Convivio (“Banquet”). There are two essays in it, based on two talks I gave at Temenos Academy in London last year. It’s a beautifully produced book, btw, with cover calligraphy by the master letter cutter Tom Perkins. Some more details at the Amazon listing. If you’re interested, you can PM me to circumvent Amazon; all it’ll cost you for the book is the postage from Italy, about 10 bucks.

Daily Bread: Art and Work in the Reign of Quantity is a book of essays about art and poetry by the English poet-critic-publisher (and protégé of Kathleen Raine) Brian Keeble. The “work” in the title is there because Keeble says, after Blake and others, that art is what all work essentially wants to be—an idea I love. Keeble’s take on these things comes out of his immersion in the perennial philosophy, and I’ve found his writings unusually profound and refreshing and challenging. You might as well. There are fine essays on David Jones, the painter Samuel Palmer, the potter Michael Cardew, and more. Perkins’s letters are on the cover of this one, too.

That’s all, folks. See you around the Sphere sometime soon.

They both sound great, Andrew.

I've missed you on the Sphere.

Nemo

Congratulations that your hard work has borne fruit. Yes, you are certainly missed.

Complimenti, Andrew. I think this post belongs on Accomplished Members - sounds like two great accomplishmenti!!

Hi Andrew,

Sounds like two winners! The first should add another dimension to our understanding of Dante. Nice work on his lesser-known works, with your ability to make such things accessible. The second is one of those books that I would never otherwise have known existed, but probably would be profoundly interesting to me, from what you've said. Thanks for letting us know! Work as art is something I've always noticed and believed. Lack of realizing this is probably a root cause of much depression and stress in modern life. One thing I noticed when I lived in Egypt (years ago) was how some goods and services were still provided by craftsmen— tailors, shoemakers, car mechanics, bus decorators, etc. You could sense their pride in doing not just a good job, but an expressive job. Maybe that's too much of a diversion...but the essays do sound fascinating. Bravo!

Siham

Just ordered the Keeble book from Alibris, Andrew (a great alternative to tyrannically mammoth Amazon, whose price seemed cheaper but came out the same after their sales tax and shipping charges were tallied in).

Really looking forward to it.

Nemo

Congratulations, Andrew

Great news!

Thanks, folks. Great to cross paths with you again! Nemo, I’m pretty sure you’ll find something that interests you in the Keeble essays. For me, reading them over time as well as following up on some of his sources has been a rich experience.

See y’all soon!

Andrew