Description:
This new version of the late fourth-century diary of journeys in and around the Holy Land known as the Itinerarium Egeriae provides a more literal translation of the Latin text than earlier English renderings, with the aim of revealing more of the female traveler's personality. The substantial introduction to the book covers both early pilgrimage as a whole, especially travel by women, and the many liturgical rites of Jerusalem that Egeria describes. Both this and the verse-by-verse commentary alongside the translated text draw on the most recent scholarship, making this essential reading for pilgrims, students, and scholars seeking insight into life and piety during one of Christianity's most formative periods.
Brief description:
Anne McGowan is assistant professor of liturgy at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, she is the author of Eucharistic Epicleses, Ancient and Modern (Liturgical Press, 2014).
Review Quotes: "This new translation of Egeria, in clear, readable English, is a very welcome work for all who study pilgrimage, travel, liturgy, late antique churches, and the Holy Places. The introduction and commentary are thorough and up-to-date. I particularly enjoyed the discussion of the liturgies and buildings of Jerusalem in the introduction. McGowan and Bradshaw should be commended for clarifying the thorny issues of dating, authorship, and manuscript tradition of the work now called the Itinerarium Egeriae. The appendices include not only a translation of the Letter of King Abgar and the text of the Bordeaux Pilgrim, but also fragments of Egeria's account missing from the surviving text. This is the translation of Egeria's work that I will be using and assigning in my courses."Maribel Dietz, Louisiana State University
"What these editors have accomplished is truly significant. The engaging style of their introduction and commentaries is perceptive, unpretentious despite vast erudition, and fair in their assessment of previous scholarship even when it has to be set aside. This will be the standard reference tool for a generation to come."The International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage