Ramón Llull

Sebastian is the alchemist's son, pursuing his father's enemy through the centuries. Pip and Tim can hardly believe his story. But then they themselves are caught in a web of magic and cunning, and their only hope of escape is to join Sebastian in his desperate battle against unimaginable evil. Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary.

Llull was one of the originators of Catalan literary prose, and wrote what was an important literary precursor of the novel. In this work of profound and devoted scholarship, Bonner makes available to the non-Latin reader a selection of Ram;on Llull's medieval writings, providing an accurate picture of Llull's system and his place in the history of Western thought and literature. Of the six works anthologized, none (with the exception of a small portion of Felix), has ever been Englished. With Llull there is a core about which all of his works (almost 300!) swing: this is the so-called Art upon which his fame in the Renaissance was grounded. The Art, which Llull believed was given him by God, is a system that serves as central to the organization of all other knowledge and provides the backbone of all of Llull's thought. Appropriately, the Art has been selected by Bonner as the basis for his anthology. The selections include principal works from each of the two phases of the development of the Art: the Ars demonstrativa and the Ars brevis. Bonner includes a splendid translation of Llull's Felix. Bonner's informative, three-part introduction, which precedes the six works themselves, contains, first, a translation of Llull's autobiographical Contemporary Life to which Bonner adds an enlightening commentary and notes; second, an essay tracing the major aspects of Llull's thought and system; and third, a discussion of the influence of Llull's thought. Bonner's excellent work deserves a place in every library that wishes to enrich its medieval collection.-H. Shapiro, San Jose State University

245 p. ; 22 cm

Llull was an influential early advocate for evangelising Christianity to, and enforcing conversion of, the Jews and Muslims in Mallorca.

"The Book of the Order of Chivalry was written in Catalan by Ramon Llull between 1274 and 1276 and is one of the author's earliest works. After his death, it achieved a wide dissemination throughout Europe in part because it was considered the theoretical manual on knighthood par excellence. The book was written in Catalan for knights who might not have a knowledge of Latin. Llull devotes his treatise to the definition of the duties of a perfect knight. In addition, he is interested in delving into the religious and moral aspects of chivalry as well as in trying to reform this institution. This edition is based on the Catalan text from Luanco's Libro de la Orden de Caballería del B. Raimundo Lulio, which is included here in facsimile format thanks to the generosity of the Reial Acadèmia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona. To this are added new Spanish and contemporary English translations. In addition, this volume includes an edition of Caxton's 16th century English translation"--Provided by publisher.