59. Una casa di melograni

An Italian translation of Oscar Wilde's A house of pomegranates was published in 1980 by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore in Milan, together with a translation of The happy prince. The collection appeared as volume 301 in a series, Gli Oscar that also comprised L'isola del tesoro (R.L. Stevenson) and Il meraviglioso mago di Oz (L.F. Baum).

The Wilde volume contained illustrations that were taken from the earliest editions: drawings by Walter Crane and Jacomb Hood, and of course, Ricketts and Shannon. Astonishingly, the pocket book reproduces not only Ricketts's drawings for A house of pomegranates, but also the four plates by Shannon which were printed in France and came out almost invisibly in the original. For the Italian edition they have been printed in sepia, and although they are smaller than the original the images are remarkably clear.

The book reproduces the title page of the first edition on the front cover, however, it has been reworked, no doubt to attain a more attractive cover picture.

Cover for the Italian edition of A house of pomegranates: Oscar Wilde, Il principe felice e Una casa di melograni (Milano, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1980)

In the introduction Masolino d'Amico explains:

Anche degli attenti esegeti wildiani hanno ripetuto senza verificarla la storia della presunta invisibilità di tutte le illustrazioni; laddove le famigerate quattro tavole a colori, peraltro leggibili almeno in certe copie meno danneggiate, costituiscono soltanto una parte piccola, probabilmente la più trascurabile, della decorazione del libro. In realtà proprio nei motivi in bianco e nero, nelle illustrazioni minute, nei fregi, nei capoversi eccetera, Ricketts e Shannon diedero prova di grande delicatezza e sensibilità, inserendosi senza sforzo in una squisita tradizione inglese di abbellimento dei libri, che vanta i nomi illustri di Tenniel e di Rackham, oltre a quello grandissimo di Beardsley. (p. 13)

Decoration for the titlepage of Oscar Wilde, A house of pomegranates (1891), designed by Charles Ricketts

The coloured Italian version of the title page for A house of pomegranates is realistic up to a point (although Ricketts wouldn't approve of it): the orange and red pomegranates are easily discernable between the pale green leaves, while the yellow mask and the figure of the woman and the faun stand out as well. It is rather strange that the embroidery is kept black and white; in this version it should have been full of bright colours.