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Maddie in the stacks with the gift from Interlingua Liski

Tales from the Reading Room is back!  Some technical problems meant we weren’t able to post our Christmas message, but our New Year’s Resolution is to post more often!  We hope to share with you some of the amazing things we discover  and people we meet each week, as well as keeping you up to date with special events and visits.

Our gift from Interlingua Liski, signed and dedicated by the translator and illustrator

This week’s blog is really a “Thank you” to our friends at Interlingua Liski.  It is nearly three years since they first got in touch with us and I’ve been writing to Lyudmila and her students ever since.   They are avid supporters of our blogs and regularly hold their own Shakespeare festivals.   The school’s headmaster sent a Christmas and New Year gift to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and I’d like to share it with you.  It’s a translation of the Sonnets and Hamlet by a local poet, Nikolay Samoilov.  A special presentation ceremony was held with the translator in a local museum and both Nikolay and the illustrator, Anikeev have written dedications in the front cover.

A special presentation ceremony in Russia

This beautifully illustrated book has now been catalogued by Mareike, our Collections Librarian, and is currently on display in our “New books” section in the Reading Room.

Nikolay Samoilov’s aim was to produce the most exact translation ever, trying to focus on Shakespeare’s thoughts and intention, rather than translating in a more interpretative way.  It’s an interesting question to ponder.  What is the role  of the translator?  To reproduce faithfully the sense and literal meaning of the original?  To use their knowledge of their own language to create the same poetry and emotional response in readers / audiences as Shakespeare did for English speakers?  The use of puns, contemporary and classical allusions and figurative language (not to mention his reputation) must make Shakespeare one of the most challenging writers of all to translate.

Thank you on behalf of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust for this special gift.

Diana Owen, Director, receives the gift on behalf of the SBT

Tags: Collections, hamlet, Interlingua Liski, Maddie Cox, Nikolay Samoilev, russian, Shakespeare Centre Library and Archive, Sonnets, Translation