Notre Dame Press Partners with Devers Program in Dante Studies on Award-Winning New Translation

Author: Notre Dame Press News

Petrarch's Penitential Psalms and PrayersPetrarch's Penitential Psalms and Prayers

In partnership with the Devers Program in Dante Studies, the University of Notre Dame Press is proud to announce the publication of a new title in the William and Katherine Devers Series in Dante and Medieval Italian LiteraturePetrarch’s Penitential Psalms and Prayers edited by Demetrio S. Yocum, senior research associate for the Notre Dame Center for Italian Studies.

Petrarch’s Penitential Psalms and Prayers is the first English translation of Petrarch’s Psalms and Prayers and provides an intimate look at the personal devotions of the ‘Father of Humanism.’ “Sensitive to religious doctrine and Petrarch’s humanist inclinations, Yocum displays a complete mastery of his subject,” says William P. Caferro, author of Petrarch’s War. “A superb book.”

The book has received critical recognition from the Modern Language Association of America, winning the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Publication Award for a Manuscript in Italian Literary Studies. The award committee said:

In Petrarch’s Penitential Psalms and Prayers, Demetrio S. Yocum provides a lucid translation of Petrarch’s seven psalms and ten prayers, making them available to anglophone readers for the first time in a scholarly form. Complete with detailed, pithy commentary and rich explication, the idiomatic translations remain faithful to the original text and are a valuable contribution to other recent scholarly translations of works by the canonical early Italian humanist.

Petrarch’s Penitential Psalms and Prayers is available for sale directly from the University of Notre Dame Press at undpress.nd.edu or wherever books are sold.

ABOUT THE WILLIAM AND KATHERINE DEVERS SERIES IN DANTE AND MEDIEVAL ITALIAN LITERATURE: In collaboration with the Medieval Institute at the University of Notre Dame, the Devers Program initiated a series dedicated to the publication of the most significant current scholarship in the field of Dante studies. In 2011, the scope of the series was expanded to encompass thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Italian literature. In keeping with the spirit that inspired the creation of the Devers program, the series takes Dante and medieval Italian literature as focal points that draw together the many disciplines and lines of inquiry that constitute a cultural tradition without fixed boundaries. Accordingly, the series hopes to illuminate this cultural tradition with contemporary critical debates in the humanities by reflecting both the highest quality of scholarly achievement and the greatest diversity of critical perspectives. Series editors: Zygmunt Baranski, University of Notre Dame; Theodore Cachey, University of Notre Dame; Laura Banella, University of Notre Dame

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME PRESS: The University of Notre Dame Press, the largest Catholic university press in the world, publishes academic and general interest books that engage the most enduring questions of our time. The Press primarily publishes in areas that align with the academic strengths of the University of Notre Dame, including religion, theology, history, philosophy, political science and theory, medieval studies, Irish studies, Latin American studies, and international relations. Through reviews, scholarly citations, and translations, Notre Dame Press books extend the reach and reputation of the University.