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This is one of the literary memoirs written by Transylvanian aristocrats in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Baron Apor lamented the passing of traditional Transylvanian practices and the Metamorphosis, written in 1783, is not a memoir in the usual sense so much a record of a vanishing way of life that the author had enjoyed in his youth, and had been told of by his elders. Apor focuses on the world he knew - upper class society, the company of Princes and Counts. He gives highly detailed accounts of Transylvanian dress, feasts, rituals, ceremonials, travelling, weddings, funerals and other social functions that are unrivalled for gusto, humour and colour. Here, for example, are young Lords whose horses had harnesses set with gems, coral and Turkish tassels of golden thread; noblewomen who wove pearls into their hair; Counts with forty castles; hospitality of a truly prodigious nature beginning with vermouth at breakfast drunk from silver goblets; fine banquets taken to the sound of pipes and violins, finishing with rousing dances such as the Mouse Dance. Exceptional, enchanting and exhilarating, this account of Transylvania is irresistible.
BARON PETER APOR (1676-1752) came from a long line of Transylvanian aristocrats. BERNARD ADAMS (translator) was educated at Pembroke College Cambridge and specializes in the translation of Hungarian literature. He is the translator of Letters from Turkey, published by Kegan Paul.
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