TY  - BOOK
AU  - Saramago,José
AU  - Costa,Margaret Jull,tr
TI  - The elephant's journey 
SN  - 9781846553608 (pbk.)
U1  - 869.342 
PY  - 2010///
CY  - London 
PB  - Harvill Secker
KW  - Elephants
KW  - Human-animal relationships
N1  - "First published with the title A Viagem do Elefante in 2008 by Editorial Caminho, SA, Lisbon"--T.p. verso.
Translated from the Portugese by Margaret Jull Costa
N2  - In 1551, King João III of Portugal gave Archduke Maximilian an unusual wedding present: an elephant named Solomon. In José Saramago's remarkable and imaginative retelling, Solomon and his keeper, Subhro, begin in dismal conditions, forgotten in a corner of the palace grounds. When it occurs to the king and queen that an elephant would be an appropriate wedding gift, everyone rushes to get them ready: Subhro is given two new suits of clothes and Solomon a long overdue scrub. Accompanied by the Archduke, his new wife, and the royal guard, these unlikely heroes traverse a continent riven by the Reformation and civil wars, witnessed along the way by scholars, historians, and wide-eyed ordinary people as they make their way through the storied cities of northern Italy; they brave the Alps and the terrifying Isarco and Brenner Passes; across the Mediterranean Sea and up the Inn River; and at last, toward their grand entry into the imperial city
ER  -