Santayana was born in Spain in 1863, but was educated in the United States. He resigned from his professorship in the Harvard Philosophy Department in 1912, in order to go to Europe and devote himself to writing for the next forty years until his death in Rome in 1952.
Scribner's brought out, between 1936 and 1940, a handsome fifteen volume collector's edition of Santayana's works, limited to 940 copies each signed by the author. Santayana suggested that it be called the Triton Edition, and a gold crest or cameo likeness of Triton appears on the outside cover of each volume. This name "triton" came over the years to be identified with Santayana.
For details on Santayana's selection of Triton, click
The new critical edition of Santayana's writings has an entirely different inspiration. It is less elegant but more complete. It is the definitive, scholarly edition, meeting the stringent standards set by the Modern Language Association of America to designate it "An Approved Edition." The editors, Herman J. Saatkamp, Jr. and William G. Holzberger, are carrying out the painstaking research and compilation required for a definitive presentation of the texts, along with variations, full justifications for choices made, notes, and explanations. The first four volumes have appeared in full: the autobiography, Persons and Places; Interpretations of Poetry and Religion; The Sense of Beauty; and the novel, The Last Puritan. The fifth volume, to appear in eight books, is The Letters of George Santayana. At the time of this posting (January 2002), two of the books have appeared; the remaining books of Volume V are to appear at the rate of two per year.
For the home page of The Santayana Edition
The Triton icon also appears on the cover of Overheard in Seville: Bulletin of the Santayana Society. This journal, appearing once a year, containing articles of all kinds concerning Santayana, and as well updated information on the Santayana Society and the Santayana Edition
For the home page of Overheard in Seville
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