A tale of two Maltese cities

The 200th anniversary of the birth of novelist Charles Dickens is being commemorated in Malta with the publication of Ġrajja ta’ Żewġt Ibliet, the Maltese version of A Tale of Two Cities translated into Maltese by Karmenu Vassallo and published for the first time in 1950.

A Tale of Two Cities is set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution (1789-1799). Since its first publication in series form in 1859 over 200 million copies have been sold worldwide in more than 35 languages and it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature.

This historical novel is written during the time of the French Revolution. It is set against the backdrop of London, Paris, England and France. The book is sympathetic to the overthrow of the French aristocracy but highly critical of the reign of terror that followed.

Dickens characterises the men and women who populate A Tale of Two Cities less by what the book’s narrator or the characters themselves say, and more by what they do. As a result, the novel seems somewhat modern, despite being set in the 18th century and written in the 19th century. Dickens was born in Portsmouth on February 7, 1812. When he died in 1870, at the age of 58, he was one of the most famous writers in the world.

Vassallo (1913-1987) says it was John Muscat, the owner of Giov. Muscat, that on February 7, 1948 had asked him to translate the Dickens classic into Maltese. Vassallo accepted this invitation and worked day and night on this translation. It took Vassallo 31 laborious months, between February 1948 and September 1950, to finish and polish this translation which was then published for the first time a few weeks later by Giov. Muscat. Vassallo was a poet, journalist and politician.

Vassallo served in the Council of Government between 1945-46 representing the Labour Party and contested the 1971 election on the Labour ticket in the then conservative village of Siġġiewi, thus helping the Labour Party win that historical election.

Ġrajja ta’ Żewġt Ibliet is published by SKS, the publication house of the Labour Party.