Writers and scholars from the early nineteenth century to the present day have never ceased to be intrigued by the life and work of Konstantinos Kaisarios Dapontes (1713��784), a curious and captivating individual who left a lasting mark on the cultural landscape of the Greek-speaking world in the eighteenth century. One of the most prolific writers of his time, with over nineteen volumes to his name (and a number of neglected manuscripts in libraries and monasteries in Greece and elsewhere), Dapontes was also one of the few individuals who recorded his adventurous life in a systematic and surprisingly detailed fashion, and in doing so bequeathed to his readers an abundance of autobiographical and confessional writings�� rather rare genre for this period of Greek culture. This book offers the English-speaking audience his idiosyncratic poem ��anon of Hymns Comprising Many Exceptional Things��and selected passages from one of his most important works, Garden of Graces. The English translation is accompanied by notes and a detailed introduction to Dapontes�� life and work, which provide the first systematic presentation of that significant Greek author to the broader English, scholarly as well as general, readership.
