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• 28 juin 2011

  Bernard Delhomme

  MULLINS Edwin - The pilgrimage to Santiago.

  Interlink’s newest series, "Lost and Found," aims to revive great works of travel writing by updating them with a new foreword while preserving the unique vision and experiences of each writer. These two inaugural titles will surely be welcomed back in both public and academic libraries. Greek-born journalist, translator, and world traveler Hearn (1850-1904), who remains best known for his Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan and Japan : An Attempt at Interpretation, has vibrantly reported his travels in French-ruled Martinique during 1887-89. Consisting of "A Midsummer Trip to the Tropics," 12 sketches of Martinique life, a folktale, several short folk music scores, and period illustrations, this poetic account provides views of much that has now disappeared. Hearn’s unusual perception of light and color as well as his detailed vintage prose both render a unique and subtle portrayal of the various peoples of Martinique in the early post-slavery period. Students of medieval art and history should applaud the reissue (with new author’s preface) of Mullins’s 1974 classic. In this compact account, Mullins, a scholar and wordsmith par excellence, makes each "Christ in Majesty" on the tympanums of pilgrimage road churches vivid. In the early 1970s, he followed much of the Santiago pilgrimage road on foot, tracing routes of the Christian faithful, who traveled to Spain to the Galician city of Santiago de Compostela in medieval times. Detailing the sights along the four main routes passing through France from Paris, Vezelay, Le Puy, and Arles, Mullins eloquently discusses the special iconography of pilgrimage churches, the lore of relics, the art of reliquaries, and the life and journey of early pilgrims and their influence on European culture. An astute work based on well-founded sources and the author’s erudition, this tome is highly recommended. Margaret W. Norton, Oak Park, IL