Robert J. White (4) (1939–)

Highly recommended for anyone reading or intending to read Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, but especially for anyone feeling frustrated with and by the book (I was ready to give up, but this book has made me reconsider). The essays and information included are very informative, and the large section of translations of all of the non-English passages are amazing and a godsend to those of us who are not fluent in Latin, Greek, Italian etc., but want to know, or need to know what all, or at least most of the non-English passages mean.… (more)

The Key to the Name of the Rose includes annotated translations of all the Latin that Eco included in his text . The Key also provides a brief chapter on the interaction among semiotics, detective mysteries, and medieval thought and a brief chronology of the Middle Ages. The pearl, however, is the chapter of historical annotations including brief descriptions of the saints, heretics, mythological allusions, and a multitude of medieval figures, both the important and the insignificant. The authors provide just the right amount of information for most readers; a paragraph or two on most. The book's central historical figures, Michael of Cesena, Ubetino of Casale, and Bernard Gui are all there, but so are many others. Peter Abelard, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Prester John each merit an entry.

I still don't understand why Eco wouldn't provide translations at the bottom of the page. In the recent translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky of War and Peace (Vintage Classics), the hundreds of French passages were included as in the original text, but translated at the bottom of the page without harm to the reader's appreciation that French was the language of the noble class. However, if he had, then perhaps this exceptional little guide would never have been published.

I wish I'd had this guide before I read The Name of the Rose, but it is worthwhile in its own right and an encouragement to re-read Eco's mystery.… (more)