Emilio Salgari’s The Black Corsair
As she lived in Italy, my nonna never got the chance to read to me as I was growing up. My parents,displaced by the Second World War, immigrated to Canada in the 1960s and their families remained behind in Italy. For years nonna had no phone, so the calls were infrequent. But there were always letters and every birthday and Christmas there would be a package with one or two toy cars and some books. At first there were children’s picture books to help learn the language, then as I became older some of her favourite stories from her youth. I read many children’s classics in Italian: Robin Hood,Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Treasure Island, Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
But then ovels I enjoyed most were the pirate tales of Emilio Salgari that featured Sandokan and the BlackCorsair, novels filled with fast-paced action and adventure. My father and uncle had read them during their childhoods and their games were inspired by the stories, each assuming the role of a favourite pirate character. My cousin, growing up in Italy as I was raised in Canada, read the same adventures andto this day, across continents, reading adventure and fantasy novels is a bond we share.
I knew I wasn’t catching every word in the stories I read in Italian. I would search for Mr Salgari’s booksin English at the library but never found them. In 1970s Canada the only children’s book by an Italianauthor in translation was Pinocchio. So in English I read what other Canadian kids my age read, theHardy Boys, Blubber, Freaky Friday, the Narnia Chronicles and other classics for children. It wasn’t until 20 years later that I decided to translate the works for myself. With the advent of theInternet I discovered that there were many “Salgariani” in North America; Italian and Spanish speakingimmigrants who would have liked to have shared his stories with their children. ROH Press beganpublishing English translations of Salgari’s Sandokan adventures in 2007, issuing a new title almost
everyyear.
This year ROH Press released the first English language translation of Il corsaro nero - The Black Corsair- Emilio Salgari’s classic pirate adventure, as part of “l’anno Salgariano”- an international celebration ofhis life and work, which marks the centenary of the writer’s death. “L’anno” officially began on April 23rd, when Italy issued a commemorative stamp to honour Mr. Salgari,and will end on the 21st of August, 2012 - the 150th anniversary of Mr. Salgari’s birth. New editions ofhis most popular works have been published in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and German as part of thefestivities as well as the first ever audio book of Il corsaro nero. Live readings, exhibitions and forumswill be held in Italy throughout the year. On May 11th, Il Museo Nazionale del Cinema also premieredthe docudrama Emilio Salgari: Il corsaro della penna by Igor Mendolia e Davide Valentini.
Il corsaro nero is considered by many to be Salgari’s masterpiece. It was first serialized in 1898 andwas an immediate success. It sold 80,000 copies in its first run in 1899 and has been in print ever since.Like any good pirate tale it is filled with battles, boardings and fast-paced action. But what caught the reader’s imagination was the Corsair himself, a tragic Romantic hero who over the course of the lastcentury has come to symbolize valour and honour.
For those unfamiliar with the story a brief synopsis: An Italian nobleman, the Lord of Ventimiglia, turnspirate to avenge the murder of his brothers. His foe: an old Flemish army officer named Van Guld, nowthe Governor of Maracaibo. The Corsair is relentless, vowing never to rest until he has killed the traitorand all those that bear his name. To help him in his quest, the Black Corsair enlists the greatest piratesof his time: L'Ollonais, Michael the Basque, and a young Welshman named Henry Morgan...
As a child, the pages of the book transported me from the quiet streets of suburban Canada to theCaribbean and the jungles of the Spanish Main. Little wonder the Corsair was one of Salgari’s firstcharacters to make the jump to the silver screen. Vitale Di Stefano directed a series of silent filmsin the 1920s, then with the advent of sound came Il Corsaro Nero in 1936 starring Olympic fencingchampion Ciro Verratti. The story has been retold several times, on both sides of the Atlantic, the first Spanish version being filmed in Mexico in 1944 by director Chano Urueta. After his worldwide success as Sandokan, Kabir Bedi took a turn at playing the Lord of Ventimiglia in Sergio Solima's 1976 version of Il corsaro nero. Here is one of the many clips available:
In 2009, Il corsaro nero was selected by Julia Eccle share as one of the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up, one of four Salgari titles to receive such an honour. The Black Corsair and Mr. Salgari’s novels are available here (The Black Corsair
The first three chapters of his novels can be read and video clips from films and animated series can be watched online on the ROH Press Website.
