Reader's file: the fascist archives - Italian publisher's reader's reports on foreign books from fascist period

Literary Review, Spring, 2002 by Minna Proctor

To give you a general idea of the novel, I'm enclosing a synopsis and article that appeared in Lavoro ["Work"]. One demonstration of the great interest this book has roused is that securing rights to it is already a challenge. Mauri put me on notice that four publishers are already vying for Italian rights to the book. So that no time would be lost, I have gone ahead and made inquiries about their terms of sale, though naturally I've made no commitment. We'll wait for your authorization before making any definitive decisions.

--ENRICO PICENI

Vitaliano Brancati, 1907-1952, Sicilian writer in good standing with the Fascist party, who set his light political satire in provincial Sicily. In 1934, he repudiated his Fascist associations, and his work was banned.

March 24, 1934, Mondadori wrote noted critic and translator Emilio Cecchi (1884-1966) the following:

I'd like to assign you the Italian translation of a book you surely already know, William Faulkner's The Sanctuary [sic], which we would like to publish in the Medusa imprint. Do you feel up to this work, and how long would it take you? How much would you ask? It isn't a long book, though it is very beautiful and exciting, so it should be a different and interesting job. Please let me know.

Four days later, 28 March, Cecchi answered:

Illustrious and dear Mondadori, I received your letter of the 24th and I thank you. Next May an extended essay I wrote on Faulkner's entire body of work, which I've been following for some time, will be published in the journal Pan. So you can see that we're thinking the same thing. I would be very happy to translate Sanctuary. It's an arduous undertaking; there are some atrocious depictions which can only be rendered through good writing--equal to the author's own--otherwise, this powerful book might seem grotesque and off-putting. Don't send me the English text; I already have it. I haven't seen the French translation yet, but I hear it's poorly done. Why don't you make an offer and hopefully I'll be able to accept it without further discussion. But please keep in mind that a book like this can't be translated in less than five or six months. I'll plan on turning in a corrected manuscript ready for typesetting. I'm not emphasizing the novel's difficulty so that you'll pay me better, but because it is difficult. In other cases, I've seen how worthwhile it is to translate artfully: Chesterton's Manalive, which Treves just published--even after Chesterton has well exhausted, as one might say, the Italian market--is already in its second printing. You've probably also acquired rights for Faulkner's Light in August which came out last year. It is not a lesser book than Sanctuary. If you do have rights to Light in August and are thinking about publishing it soon, I hope you'll let me recommend for the translation Mario Soldati who you must already know. Whoever is to take on the translation of this book must have spent time in America--not just on holiday, but lived there for real. No one would be a better translator for Light in August than Soldati. He's already written on Faulkner--I'm enclosing his article here. Excuse my taking such liberties, but you really should heed my advice in this matter. [...]