PRELIMINARY BIBLIOGRAPHY

for

DANTE'S

DIVINE COMEDY










This Dante Bibliography is intended for the use of (especially undergraduate) students at Boston College. The call numbers, therefore, are keyed to the O'Neill and Bapst Libraries at Boston College. The nearby Library at St. John's Seminary uses the same catalogue system and many of the books listed here, particularly in the areas of theology and philosophy, may be found there also, though they may not be withdrawn from that Library. It is important to note, however, that with regard to books on the Bible the initial prefix BS in the call numbers at Boston College becomes BR at St. John's. This is not specifically noted at each entry in this Bibliography.

As of the present date (March, 2003), this Bibliography, begun several years ago, is in the process of revision, so some entries may not be current and others are not yet included. For assistance in preparing this document for inclusion in our Humanities House web site I am grateful to Ms. Christine Cordek, '02.


                                                                                              Rev. John W. Howard, S.J. 
                                                                                              Boston College 
                                                                                              Honors Program 
                                                                                              Gasson Hall 102 
                                                                                              617-552-3315 
                                                                                               john.howard.1@bc.edu
 
 

INDEX TO THIS BIBLIOGRAPHY


You may scroll through consecutively or click on any item to go directly to that topic.
You can return to this index by clicking "Back to Index" at the end of each section.

 

     Basic Reference Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . page 1 (#1-10) 

      Recent Commentaries in English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 2-2b (#11-14) 

      Other Commentaries, via the Dartmouth Dante Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 2b 

      Biblical & Theological Reference Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3-6 (#15-30) 

      Classical Authors: Reference Books and Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 7-8 (#31-36) 

      English Translations of DIVINE COMEDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 9-11 

      Glossaries and Indexes to DIVINE COMEDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 12 

      Recordings (Italian as well as English) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 13-13a 

      Dictionaries (Italian and Italian-English) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 14 

      Dante Studies Web Sites  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 14-15 

      Illustrations of DIVINE COMEDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 16 

      Books and Recordings on Library Reserve

      Other Topics
         -Dante studies in America 
         -Other books 

 


 
Page 1
                         Some Basic Reference Materials
 

1.     Enciclopedia dantesca (Rome, 1970-78; dir. Umberto Bosco; ed. Giorgio Petrocci et al.). Six volumes, with illustrations. Last volume has text of Dante's complete works, bibliography, etc. See also earlier one by G. A. Scartazzini (1896-1905). See also the curious Manuale dantesco by Giuseppi Ferrazzi (Bossano, 1865-77) in 5 volumes (=PQ 4334.F4). 

                                                                                                                                                            PQ4333.E5 


 2.     A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante. (Oxford, 1968; orig. edition by Paget Toynbee in 1898; revised by Charles S. Singleton in 1968). Includes full bibliography and a chronology of the Guelfs and Ghibellines. Title of each entry is in Italian, but the texts are in English.  Includes all the works of Dante. 

                                                                                                                   REFERENCE  PQ4333.T7.1968 

2a.   The Dante Encyclopedia.  (Garland Press, 2000; edited by Richard Lansing et al.).  Similar in many ways to the Toynbee-Singleton DICTIONARY (#2 above), but does not replace it.  Titles of entries are in English; artlicles are signed by 146 different contributers, one of whom is Professor Laurie Shepard of Boston College.  Total pages = 1000, compared to Toynbee which is 600.  An interesting feature is a ten-page list of musical compositions that are based on Dante's various works, as well as a seven-page article on illustrations of the Divine Comedy.  One example of the difference between this volume and Toynbee is that this volume has an article on the Dante illustrator, John Flaxman (1775-1826), many of whose illustrations appear in this volume; Toynbee's scope does not include such topics because it is more of a dictionary than an encyclopedia.  Both volumes are essential reference books for all of Dante's works.  It is unfortunate that the many illustrations, all of which are black-and-white, are not of better quality.  ISBN = 0-8153-1659-3

                                                                                                                    REFERENCE PQ 433.D36. 2000 

3.     I personaggi della Divina Commedia: classificazione e regesto. (Florence, 1986; by Bernard Delmay). An Italian version of the above, but sufficiently different to be worth consulting. Note especially the classification method. Some entries also are more full than you will find in Toynbee-Singleton.

                                                                                                                     PQ4464.D45 
 

4. A Concordance to the Divine Comedy. (Harvard, 1965; by T. Bergin and E. Wilkins). In Italian; includes all proper names. 

                                                                                                                     REFERENCE  PQ4464.W5 

4a. Concordance of the Divina Commedia.  (Beston, 1888; by E. A. Fay).  Published by the Dante Society
of America.
                                                                                                                    REFERENCE  PQ 4464.F3  (1888)

  4b.  Concordanza della Commedia di Dante Alighieri (Turin, 1975; Luciano Lovera, ed.).  In three volumes; more detailed than the others listed here. 
                                                                                                                    NOT IN OUR LIBRARY

 5. Dizionario della Divina Commedia. (Florence, 1954; by Giorgio Siebzehner-Vivanti and Michele Messina). In Italian. 

                                                                                                                     PQ4464.S5 

6. Illuminated Manuscripts of the Divine Comedy. (Princeton, 1969; by Peter H. Brieger, Millard Meiss and Charles S. Singleton; Bollingen Series Number LXXXI). Two volumes: text (I) and plates (II). Index at end of volume II. Text and plates are matched in the order of Cantos. The story of each Canto is well summarized so no text is needed to follow along. Some color illustrations at the end of volume II. This is a wonderful treasury of Commediana, an education in itself. It is unfortunate that more color plates could not be included. There is an illuminated MS of the Comedy at Harvard's Houghton Library (from 1481). In our library's copy, p. 141-144 are missing and 145-148 are duplicated in volume I. 

                                                                                                                       PQ4366.B7 
 

7. The Divine Comedy in English: A Critical Bibliography. (London, 1965-67; by Gilbert F. Cunningham). Two volumes. There is a separate chapter for each English translation from 1782 to 1967. 

                                                                                                                        REFERENCE  PQ4328.E5.C8 

8. Dante into English: A Study of the Translation of the Divine Comedy in Britain and America. (Chapel Hill, 1964; by William J. DeSua). 

                                                                                                                         PQ4328.E5.D4 

9. Approaches to Teaching Dante's Divine Comedy. (New York, 1982; by Carole Slade for Modern Language Association of America). Part I is about helpful reference materials etc. Part II has helpful teaching suggestions. 

                                                                                                                          PQ4371.A6 

10. The Cambridge Companion to Dante, edited by Rachel Jacoff (1993; Cambridge University Press). Deals with all of Dante's works. 

                                                                                                                          PQ4335.C36 

 
 

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Page 2a

Recent Commentaries in English


Important Note

Some translations have such extensive footnotes that they could be considered also as Commentaries. It is important, therefore, to consult the section entitled ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS for such books, which is the sixth section in this Bibliography.

A good example of this is the recent translation of the Inferno and Purgatorio (2000 and 2002) by Jean and Robert Hollander. This bilingual translation has such extensive footnotes that it could also be considered a Commentary.

The same is true, obviously, for the popular paperback editions by Musa, Sayers, Ciardi, etc. The focus in the present section of this Bibliography is on the books whose main focus is to be a commentary, whether or not a translation accompanies the commentary (as it does, for example, with Singleton, Musa, Durling-Martinez, etc., but not with Mandelbaum).

You may wish to consult the article by Robert Hollander, "A Checklist of Commentaries on the COMMEDIA (1322 - 1982)," in Dante Studies 101 (1983): 181 - 192. Also, Michael Caesar, ed., Dante: The Critical Heritage 1314 - 1870 (London, 1989).




11. Charles S. Singleton, The Divine Comedy. (Princeton, 1970-75; Bollingen Series Number LXXX). In six volumes: three with Italian text and facing English prose translation, three with commentary. At the end of each text volume there is an Index of the persons and places mentioned in that part of the Comedy. At the end of each commentary volume there is a bibliography. There is no Index or Glossary of the complete Comedy. Quotations in the commentary volumes are translated into English (except for quotes from the Comedy itself). There are occasional maps and illustrations. To the general call number you need to add the volume and part number: e.g., the Inferno text-translation is v. 1, part 1; the Inferno commentary is v. 1, part 2. Some volumes have F77 at than end of the call number instead of F70; these are corrected editions of 1977.  This commentary is included in the Dartmouth Dante Project.  See next section, "Other Commentaries."  Commentary pages = 2,130 total for 3 volumes
                                                                                                                    PQ432.F70/F77 

v.1, pt.1 (etc.) 

 

12. Mark Musa, The Divine Comedy. (Indiana, 1996-2004). This has six volumes, three of text and facing poetic translation, three of commentary: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso. There is no Index to the text itself, only to the persons and topics mentioned in the commentary volumes. There is a bibliography at the end of each commentary volume. Like Singleton, Musa also translates into English all foreign-language quotations used in the commentary, but usually not words from the Italian text of the Comedy itself. From what I have read it is not just a revision/addition of his earlier notes in his Penguin paperback (and other) editions. It is completely new, far more complete and as important a commentary as has appeared recently in English.. Like Singleton, it is attractively printed; it is easier to use simply because the pages are larger. Musa has made a number of changes from his previous translation of the text (still in print as Penguin paperbacks).  


PQ4315.2.M77,1996 

                                                                                                                         v. 1,2,3,4
                                                                                                                        (also at St. John's) 
 

13. Robert M. Durling and Ronald L. Martinez, The Divine Comedy: Inferno (Oxford, 1996) and Purgatorio (Oxford, 2003); both available also in paperback. This eventually will be a three-volume set, with text and facing prose translation at the beginning and footnotes at the end of each Canto. Though not on the same scale as Musa and Singleton, it is attractively printed, with good notes and (for some Cantos) additional extended essays at the back (called Additional Notes) which should be consulted, though it is easy to miss the fact that they are there. They also have good bibliographies and the most helpful indices I have seen in any translation text: There are four indices: of Italian and other words discussed in the notes; of passages from biblical, classical and medieval authors; of proper names and places mentioned in the footnotes; and proper names and places mentioned in the text itself. A unique and most helpful feature of the Purgatorio volume is the section (called Inter Cantica) at the end of each Canto's footnotes, suggesting how a particular Canto (or set of Cantos) connects with one or more Cantos in the Inferno. I presume this most helpful feature, unique to this Commentary, will also be found in the Paradiso volume when it appears, thereby connecting all three Cantica.

                                                                                                                        PQ4315.D87.1996 

14. Charles H. Grandgent and Charles S. Singleton, La Divina Commedia. (Harvard, 1909; revised in 1933 and in 1972 by Charles S. Singleton). This was the first annotated edition of the Comedy published in America. The text is only the Italian; no translation. Footnotes are brief, but pre-notes to each Canto are excellent - better than the three editions listed above. There is an Index at the back (p. 937-950) of the persons and places mentioned in the whole Comedy. This is a single-volume work. A one-volume edition of the introductory notes, footnotes & index is published as Companion to the Divine Comedy (1975). Call #PQ4464.G7.  This commentary is also accessible through the Dartmouth Dante Project.  See next section, "Other Commentaries." 

                                                                                                                        PQ4302.F72 (includes text)
                                                                                                                        PQ4464.G7 (commentary only) 
 

14a. Allen Mandelbaum, Anthony Oldcorn and Charles Ross have recently edited a canto-by-canto commentary on the INFERNO (Univ. of California, 1998), with contributions from an international group of scholars, (e.g. Handelbaum, Hollander, Durling, Ferrante, Massotta, Dante Della Terza, etc., including Maria Simonelli, who taught here at Boston College from 1967-1984.) Entitled LECTURA DANTIS-INFERNO (also called the California Lectura Dantis), it is meant as a companion to Mandelbaum's translation which was published in 1980 (cf. page 9 of this bibliography), and I presume that two additional volumes will follow with a similar format for the Purgatorio and Paradiso. Commentary on each canto runs about 10-12 pages and includes, at the end of each canto, an excellent bibliography and/or bibliographical essay on that canto. There is a general bibliography at the end (8 pages), including a listing of some electronic resources for Dante studies. A problem with this fine volume, however, is that citations to Virgil's AENEID are not to the lines of the Latin text but to the lines of Mandelbaum's English translation of the AENEID, published by California in 1971. References to the Bible are to the Douai-Rheims English translation (of 1582 and 1609), since the basis of that translation was the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin version of 404), which was the Bible that Dante used. (The Gutenberg Bible of 1456 is also based on the Latin Vulgate of Jerome. For more on this see page 3 in this bibliography). It is important to know that the Douai-Rheims version is being cited here because in that version the numbering of some of the Psalms differs by one number from more modern translations, so it is important to check the reference depending upon the translation you are using. References to other classical authors, however, are to the standard original texts and line numbers. The exception for the AENEID is puzzling, unless it is to sell more copies of Mandelbaum's translation (now in Bantam paperback), even if this commentary is intended as a companion to that translation. In any case, this is an excellent addition to the many fine aids we now have so readily available for the study of Dante.  460 pages,  with bibliography. 

                                                                                                                     PQ 4443.L38 (1998) 

14a (additional comment): There is a fine copy of the three-volume hardcover set of Mandelbaum's translation (with facing Italian text and Moser's illustrations) at St. John’s Seminary. Published by California. 

                                                                                                            Inferno = PQ4315. 2.M3. 1980
                                                                                                            Purgatorio = PQ4315.3.M3.1982 
                                                                                                            Paradisio = PQ 4315.4.M3.1982 
                                                                                                            (at St. John’s Seminary) 

Note that Mandelbaum's translation of the Divine Comedy is now one of the volumes published in the Everyman's Library Series, in a single volume (hardcover), English translation only (the Bantam paperback also has the facing Italian text), footnotes at the back (I think the Bantam notes are more extensive, being in three volumes). A handy feature of the Everyman edition is a list of citations and references to classical authors mentioned or alluded to in the Comedy; this is at the back of the volume. Having the entire Comedy in a single hardcover volume is certainly helpful. The Everyman's Library series is now published by Knopf and Mandelbaum's translation (originally published by California in 1980,'82,'84) was added to the series in 1995, along with illustrations by Botticelli (ca. 1445-1510). This edition has 250 pages of notes and 6 pages of the index of classical authors. The original edition had original illustrations by Barry Moser; these are included also in the three-volume Bantam paperback edition which is still in print (bilingual; first published by Bantam in 1982-86, with notes by various scholars, Anthony Oldcorn among them (for the Paradiso). Another helpful feature of the Everyman edition is the five-page categorized bibliography, printed at the end of the general introduction, as well as a 14-page comparative chronology of Dante and his times. The bibliography is current to about 1993.  800 pages. 
 
 

14b. Similar in format to the entry above is the single-volume of the LECTURA DANTIS VIRGINIANA, published in the Spring of 1990 as a supplement to volume 6 of that series and dedicated to commentaries on each canto of the INFERNO by 34 different scholars (among them Bergin, Cherchi, Della Terza, etc.). Each commentary runs about 12 pages, followed by footnotes and (sometimes) brief bibliography on that canto.  Some of the commentaries have been previously published in the LECTURA DANTIS VIRGINIANA periodical series (from volumes 1-4, 1987-1989; the list of reprinted essays is on page 4). Quotations from the COMEDY are in Italian and are not translated, nor are most of the citations from classical and other authors. The editor is Tibor Wlassics; the title on the binding of our copy is simply LECTURA DANTIS. The formal title of the volume is DANTE'S INFERNO - INTRODUCTORY READINGS. (Charlottesville, VA.) The volume is 435 pages long. The number of commentaries previously printed and reproduced in this volume is 14. 

                                                                                                                   PQ 4331.A36.#6,supp.

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 14c.  Northwestern University publishes the LECTURA DANTIS NEWBERRYANA, edited by Paolo Cherchi and Antonio Mastrobuono (1988 ff.). This ranges over all of Dante's works and is not confined to commentary essays. 

                                                                                                                    PQ 4390.L35 

14d.  The LECTURA DANTIS AMERICANA is a series of volumes edited by Robert Hollander, with each volume entirely devoted to a single canto of the INFERNO.  So far only three have appeared:  I by Anthony Cassell in 1989; II by Rachel Jacoff in 1989; III by Maria Simonelli in 1993; she used to teach here at Boston College.  For some reason they do not all have the same call number in our Library.  The St. John's Seminary Library also has a copy. 

                                                                                                                     PQ 4315.2.C35 (I) 
                                                                                                                     PQ 4315.2.J34    (II) 
                                                                                                                     PQ 4445.P53    (III) 
                                                                                                                     (also at St. John's) 
 

NOTE: Keep your eye out for the subsequent volumes in the Musa text and commentary series, published by University of Indiana (number 12 on the previous pages of this Bibliography), as well as for the additional volumes in the set, published by Oxford, by Durling and Martinez, (number 13) and by Mandelbaum, published by California (number 14a on the previous page). 
 

NOTE:  Many of the commentaries listed above (Singleton, Grandgent, Musa, Durling, Virginiana) are on the reserve shelf in O'Neill for my course.   (HP 001-004). 

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Page   2b
OTHER COMMENTARIES  - THE DARTMOUTH DANTE PROJECT

            THE DARTMOUTH DANTE PROJECT, under the direction of Robert Hollander of Princeton University, is an on-going effort to put on-line the entire text of all Dante commentaries, from the earliest (Jacopo Alighieri, 1322) to the most recent.  As of this date (April, 2000) 59 commentaries are complete.  English-language commentaries available through this web-site include Longfellow (1867), Ruskin (1903), Grandgent (1909-1913) and Singleton (1970-1975, and still in print). 

                     In order profitably to use this resource you need to know what you are looking for.  You cannot, for example, simply download sequentially the whole text, say, of Singleton's three-volume commentary.  Some suggestions follow: 

                     Finally, although the O'Neill Library of Boston College has some of these older commentaries, they are not listed separately in this bibliography.Only the recent ones written in English are listed separately.  For the others it is presumed that access to this web-site is sufficient for most purposes.

The easiest access to this resource from Boston College is: www.bc.edu/humanities > "Humanities Home" > 
                                                                                                         "2nd Floor Library" > "Dante Vault"
 

                   The database currently contains the Italian text of La Commedia of 1321, and commentaries by the following authors: 

  + - only Inferno or part thereof;   * - partially edited.

                        Some publication dates, particularly of early commentaries, are approximate. 

                                  From 1322 to 1850

 Jacopo Alighieri+ [jacopo], 1322                                   Francesco da Buti*, 1385-95 
 Anonymus Lombardus, 1322 [Purg. only]                      Anonimo Fiorentino, 1400 
 Graziolo Bambaglioli+ [graziolo], 1324                          Giov. da Serravalle, 1416-17 
 Jacopo della Lana [lana], 1324-28                                Guiniforto+, 1440 
 Guido da Pisa+ [guido], 1327-28                                  Vellutello*, 1544 [through Purg. 10] 
 L'Ottimo commento [ottimo], 1333                                Daniello, 1568 
 Anonimo selmiano+, 1337                                             Castelvetro+, 1570 
 Pietro di Dante [pietro1], 1340-41                                 Venturi, 1732 
 Pietro di Dante* [pietro2], 1344-55                               Lombardi, 1791-92 
 Pietro di Dante* [pietro3], 1359-64                               Portirelli, 1804-05 
 Codice cassinese [cassinese], 1350-75[??]                     Costa, 1819-21 
 Giovanni Boccaccio+, 1373-75                                      Gabriele Rossetti*, 1826-27 
 Benvenuto da Imola [benvenuto], 1380                            Tommaseo, 1837 [ed. of 1865] 

                           From 1850 to the Present
 

                                                                          Carlo Steiner, 1921 
 Raffaello Andreoli, 1856                                    Del Lungo [dellungo], 1926 
 Longfellow*, 1867 [through Purg. 33]                Scartazzini-Vandelli [vandelli], 1929 
 Greg. Di Siena+ [siena], 1867                            Carlo Grabher, 1934-36 
 Brunone Bianchi, 1868                                       Ernesto Trucchi, 1936 
 Scartazzini, 1874-82 [2nd ed., 1900]                 Luigi Pietrobono, 1946 [1924-30] 
 Giuseppe Campi, 1888-93                                 Attilio Momigliano, 1946-51 
 P. Gioachino Berthier, 1892-97                          Manfredi Porena, 1946-48 
 Giacomo Poletto, 1894                                      Natalino Sapegno, 1955-57 
 Hermann Oelsner, 1899                                     Daniele Mattalia, 1960 
 H. F. Tozer, 1901                                              Siro A. Chimenz, 1962 
 John Ruskin, 1903                                              Giovanni Fallani, 1965 
 John S. Carroll, 1904                                         Giorgio Padoan+, 1967 
 Francesco Torraca, 1905                                   Giuseppe Giacalone, 1968 
 C. H. Grandgent, 1909-13                                 Charles S. Singleton, 1970-75 
 Enrico Mestica, 1921-22 [1909]                        Bosco-Reggio [bosco], 1979 
 Casini-Barbi [casini] 1921                                  Pasquini-Quaglio [pasquini], 1982 
 
 

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Page   3 
BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL REFERENCE MATERIALS

NOTE: All of the books listed in this section are also available at Saint John's Seminary, some in the reference section and some in the stacks. No books can be withdrawn from that Library, which means that you are sure of finding the book.  In some cases, however, especially for books on Scripture, the initial prefix of BS in O'Neill Library will become BR at St. John's. The rest of the call number is the same for both Libraries. 

15. Biblia Sacra, Juxta Vulgatam Versionem ("The Vulgate"). This is the edition of the Latin Bible that Dante would have known. In 382 Pope Damasus assigned to St. Jerome, who knew the relevant languages (Hebrew, Greek, Latin), the task of determining the definitive text of the Latin Bible. He completed the task in 404. This is the text found in the Gutenberg Bible of 1456 (the first printed book), and it was from this text that the Douai-Reims translation into English (NT 1582, OT 1609) was made. Until recently it was the standard English translation used in the Roman Catholic Church (with subsequent revisions, of course, after 1609 - the latest being the Confraternity edition). The Vulgate is abbreviated Vg. More recent translations are made with direct reference to the original languages of Hebrew and Greek, not to the Vulgate. Most texts and commentaries of Dante will translate into English the Latin references to the Vulgate. The reference edition listed in this Library does not have a translation with it. It is a one-volume edition (Stuttgart 1969; 1994 - fourth edition, R. Weber et al. eds.), nicely printed. 

                                                                                                                   REFERENCE  BS75.1994 

15a. The English translation made from the Vulgate is the Douay-Rheims (NT 1582, OT 1610). It was revised by Bishop Challoner in 1749-50. A modern descendant of this is the Confraternity edition (NT 1941, OT 1952). The NT, though based on the Vulgate, did consult the original Greek text; The OT was based on the original Hebrew text. This is the translation that was used in Catholic Churches prior to the recent liturgical reforms. The present lectionary uses the New American Bible, based on direct reference to the original languages. The Protestant denominations used to use (some still do) the King James Version of 1611 (or the Authorized Version descended from it), but now most use the Revised Standard Version (descended from the KJV in a very broad sense). The RSV, like most modern Bibles, is based on direct reference to the original languages.  Some modern commentaries (e.g., Mandelbaum) still use the Douai-Rheims version of the Bible when giving biblical references, because this is the English translation of the Vulgate that Dante would have used. 
 

15b. The New Testament Apocrypha can be found in a two-volume translation called the New Testament Apocrypha, edited by R.M. Wilson and translated by A.J.B. Higgins et al. The main editors were E. Hennecke (1904-1951) and W. Schneemelcher. The translation was published in Philadelphia in 1963. An earlier single-volume edition was published by M.R. James (Oxford, 1924).  This collection is important because the Gospel of Nicodemus is (apparently) the original source for the theme of the "Harrowing of Hell" in Inferno, Canto IV. It is briefly suggested by a few biblical passages also (cf. Ephesians 4:9, etc.), but quite dramatically developed in Nicodemus. Ms. Rachel Skiba ('01) discovered and expounded on this matter to the wonder (and, it must be said, to the intense satisfaction) of all in our class. 

                                                                                           Hennecke-Schneemelcher BS2832.S3 
                                                                                            M.R. James  BS2832.J3 
 

                                     Comments on Some English Editions
                                                        of The Bible
 

15c.  Most modern translations of the Bible also have useful footnotes and general essays. I would single out, as the most complete and current, the recent Oxford edition called THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE - NEW AMERICAN BIBLE (Donald Senior, gen. editor; 1990). This has over 2,200 pages of text, essays, footnotes, maps and a chart of biblical passages used in the Sunday and weekday lectionary at Mass. No question about it: a "best buy." 

Other fine translations (with footnotes and general articles) include the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION (NRSV) - Oxford edition); NEW JERUSALEM BIBLE (NJB); NEW AMERICAN BIBLE (NAB, in various editions: the footnotes are standard because they are an integral part of the text and (I believe) have to be published along with the text, according to the copyright, wherever the text is published.) GOOD NEWS BIBLE/TODAY'S ENGLISH VERSION; NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV: the translation is good but the notes are much less so, especially in the earlier books of the Old Testament, where current biblical scholarship seems not to matter.) NEW ENGLISH BIBLE (NEB, recently revised; there is a fine Oxford Study edition of this, just as with the RSV and NRSV and NAB listed above). 

The biblical text usually used in the Roman Catholic Church at Mass is the NEW AMERICAN BIBLE; this is the one in the Lectionary. I believe that the RC Churches in Canada use the New Jerusalem Bible, which was originally published in French under the supervision of the Dominican Fathers at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem (in 1961; translated into English in 1966, with the second edition in French in 1973 and in English in 1985). Some editions of this are the most beautifully printed Bibles that I know of (at least of those at a reasonable price). It was one of the very first translations to incorporate current scholarship into the extensive footnotes. When first translated into English it was very popular, both because of the quality of the scholarship and the printing. Current printings, I think, are less elegant than this Bible used to enjoy. 

All of the Bibles listed above are available in the reference section of the library (call numbers BS 190 to BS 195). 

                                                                                                     REFERENCE: BS 190 to 195 

Douai-Rheims/Confraternity    BS 2080 
King James Version/AV    BS 2085 


           The New Jerome Biblical Commentary remarks that at this point, at the end of the 20th century, adherents of the three major biblical faiths have the Scriptures available to them "in very responsible and readable English translations, each done without any acrimonious claims over against the others." (#68:216) 

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  Page    4 
16.  The Anchor Bible Dictionary (Doubleday, 1992; David N. Freedman, ed.). In six volumes. This is by far the most current and complete biblical dictionary. 

                                                                                                    REFERENCE   BS440.A54 

17. Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (Nashville, 1962-76; George A. Buttrick, ed.). In five volumes. An important complement to the Anchor Dictionary above, though somewhat out of date. 

                                                                                                     REFERENCE  BS440.I63 

18. Dictionary of the Bible (Milwaukee, 1965; John L. McKenzie, sj). An important single volume work, done by one man, and the first to appear after the Roman Catholic biblical revival in 1943. 

                                                                                                      REFERENCE   BS440.M36 

19. Oxford Companion to the Bible (Oxford, 1993; B. Metzger & M. Coogan, eds.). The best of recent single-volume works; solid and ecumenical scholarship is represented here. 

                                                                                                    REFERENCE  BS440.M34 

20. New Jerome Biblical Commentary (New Jersey, 1968; 1990 - second revised edition; J. Fitzmyer, sj et al., eds.). A work of Roman Catholic biblical scholars, this has verse-by-verse commentary on the Bible, plus many relevant essays, chronologies, maps, etc. The best and most current of such single volume reference works. Ecumenical in approach. 

                                                                                                   REFERENCE   BS491.2.N485 

21. Collegeville Bible Commentary (Collegeville, MN, 1989; D. Bergant & R. Karris, eds.). Another current product of Roman Catholic scholars; not as thorough as the Jerome Commentary, but quite reliable and accessible. 

                                                                                                     REFERENCE    BS491.2.C66 

22. Harper's Bible Commentary (Harper & Row, 1988; James L. Mays, ed.). A work of excellent scholars from various denominations. 

                                                                                                      REFERENCE   BS491.2.H37

23. The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible. (Nashville, 1971; Charles M. Laymon, ed.). New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. (London, 1969; R.C. Fuller, ed.). Peake's Commentarv on the Bible (London, 1962). These are three fine but out-of-date single-volume commentaries, the first and third representing mainly the Protestant tradition. All are in the reference section in the same area. 

                                                                                                        REFERENCE    BS491.2 

24. Harper's Bible Dictionary (Harper & Row, 1985; Paul J. Achtemeier, gen. ed.) More current and complete than McKenzie (number 18 above). 
                                                                                                        REFERENCE   BS440.H237 

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                                                                                   Page 


                                                     Biblical and Theological Reference Materials (cont'd.) 

25. The Anchor Bible Commentaries (Doubleday, in progress).  A current and first-rate series of about 50 volumes, done by the best scholars from a variety of Christian traditions, on each book of the Bible.  All but about a dozen volumes have already appeared.  English translation and extensive commentary; to some books of the Bible two volumes are devoted (e.g. Gospel of John).  General editors are the late William F. Albright and David Noel Freedman.  The older ones may be now getting somewhat out-of-date (Speiser's volume on Genesis appeared in 1962), and - naturally - some volumes are of higher quality than others.  The Old Testament volumes are bound in blue, the New Testament in red, the Apocryphal Books etc, in tan.  In the Boston College Library the volumes are shelved together in the stacks as a series, as at St. John's also (where the initial letters are BR instead of BS). 
                                                                                                      STACKS   BS192.2.Al ff. 

26. The Hermeneia Biblical Commentaries (Fortress Press, in progress).  This is more complete and scholarly than the Anchor series, but some volumes are translations of previously-published commentaries from other languages, whereas the Anchor series is entirely fresh and in English originally.  This series would not be intended for the ordinary reader, to whom the Anchor series would be more accessible.  Original text & English translation included.  This series is not shelved together but scattered by biblical author.  Includes some non-biblical books (e.g. Ignatius of Antioch, etc.).  There is also in the series an interesting volume on The Beatitudes
                                                                                                        STACKS 

27. The New World Dictionary-Concordance to the New American Bible. (World Publishing, 1970; no editor listed).  Intended as a companion to the New American Bible, this little book has a lot of information packed into a few pages - a "best buy." This is our classroom companion reference book, available in the bookstore. 

                                                                                                        REFERENCE   BS440.N45 

28. The New Interpreter's Bible. (Nashville, 1994 ff; Leander E. Keck, gen. ed.) A series of 12 volumes, with translation and commentary together; two facing translations are used - the NIV and the NRSV.  A first-rate and current publication, with an ecumenical approach, though originally in the Protestant tradition in its previous edition.  Half of the volumes have already appeared. 
                                                                                                          REFERENCE    BS491.2.N484 

Note:  It will be of interest here to note that in most of the more recently-published biblical dictionaries and commentaries listed above the biblical scholars in the Boston College Theology Department have contributed articles and served on the editorial boards, and not only for those publications which are more within the Roman Catholic tradition (like the Jerome Commentary).  Also, an alumnus of Boston College, Harold Attridge, '68, is on the editorial board of the Hermeneia series and is the author of the volume on the Epistle to the Hebrews in that series (1989).  (= BS 2775.3.A77). 

None of the single-volume commentaries contain a text or translation of the Bible; the multi-volume series usually have at least a translation. 

Finally, note that often the initial prefix BS in O'Neill is BR at St. John's Library for these commentaries, though the rest of the call number is the same for any given book in this category.
 
 

CONCORDANCES to the BIBLE
















These are located in the Reference section at BS 423-425.  In the case of translations, you may need to know which translation you are using, as some words will differ depending on the translation.  The major English translations each have a concordance available in a separate volume. 

Bibliorum Sacrorum Concordantiae
-for the VULGATE (the original Latin translation of the Scriptures), there is a single-volume concordance by F.P. Dutripon, begun under the pontificate of Sixtus V (1585 - 1590) We have a copy of the 8th edition (Paris; 1880, reprinted in 1976). 

REFERENCE BS 423.D8.1976


Novae Concordantiae Bibliorum Sacrorum Juxta Vulgatam Versionem Critice Editam
-for the VULGATE this is also a more thorough five-volume concordance done by Boniface Fischer, O.S.B. and published in Stuttgart in 1977. 

REFERENCE   BS 423.F57 (5 vols.)
Concordance to the Bible
-for the standard English translation of the VULGATE, namely the Douay-Rheims/Confraternity version, there is a Concordance done by N. Thompson and R. Stock,published in London in 1942. 
REFERENCE    BS 425.T45 (1942) 
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THEOLOGICAL   REFERENCE   BOOKS

  Page   6


 29. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford, 1957; 1997 - third revised edition; F.L. Cross and E.A. Livingstone, eds.). An essential single volume reference work for religious people, places and subjects.  Includes some biblical references also and is ecumenical in scope and (generally) in treatment of subjects.  Originated in the Protestant tradition. 

                                                                                                                  REFERENCE  BR95.08 

30.  The New Catholic Encyclopedia (NCE. Second edition, 2002, in 15 volumes. The previous edition, in 17 volumes with supplements, is 1967, W.J. McDonald, gen. ed.). The newer edition of 2002 incorporates more of the work of Vatican Council II than the earlier 1967 edition could.  Though it is the work of Roman Catholic scholars, there is an ecumenical approach that would be harder to find in the much older and original edition of this Catholic Encyclopedia (1907-1914), though that edition is still useful  (in 15 volumes, completed in 1914; = BX 841.C245, reference shelf). This older edition, called The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907–1914), is on the web at <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/>. Also via “Yahoo” at “Catholic Encyclopedia.”  The newer editions are not on the web. 
                                                                                                             REFERENCE   BX841.N45 (new) 
                                                                                                                                      BX841.C245 (old) 

   Addenda for this section

Some editions of the Bible that are mentioned on page 3 are available in the Reference Section of O'Neill Library, such as: 

The Catholic Study Bible - NAB (Oxford edition) = REFERENCE    BS192.2.Al.N49, or 
                                                                                                               BS195.C37 
 Harper-Collins Study Bible - NRSV                       REFERENCE   BS191.5.Al.C35 

 Cambridge Annotated Study Bible – NRSV           REFERENCE    BS191.5.Al.C36 

New Jerusalem Bible                                                    REFERENCE   BS195.J4 

Note: There is a handsome edition of this Jerusalem Bible (first translated from the original French into English in 1966) at St. John's Seminary, with many illustrations by Salvador Dali. It is in the stacks there at BR195.J4.1970z. 
 

            With regard to the three biblical commentaries mentioned under #23 on page 4, these also are in the reference section of O'Neill, namely: 

Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary                  REFERENCE   BS491.2.I57 

New Catholic Commentary                                        REFERENCE    BS491.2.N48 

Peake's Commentary                                                   REFERENCE    BS491.B57 

Note:  As noted earlier (bottom of page 5), often the initial prefix of BS in O'Neill is BR at St. John's Seminary.  This would be true of most (if not all) of the books listed on pages 3-6 of this bibliography. 
 
 

30a. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican, 1994).  The English translation was published in Washington in the same year. 

                                                                                                                                                BX1959.3.E5.08 
30b. A Companion to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: A Compendium of Texts Referred to in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (San Francisco, 1994).  Texts are numbered in the same way and order as the Catechism itself.  Includes complete biblical texts.  All is in English. 
                                                                                                                                                    BX1959.3.E52x
30c. A Commentary on the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Collegeville, 1994; M.J. Walsh, ed.). A series of articles by various authors on the main topics covered in the Catechism.  These are not official Church documents; the Catechism and the Companion are official documents. 

                                                                                                                REFERENCE  BX1959.5.C384 

30d. Harper-Collins Encyclopedia of Catholicism (1995; R. McBrien, ed.). An up-to-date reference book by various contemporary Catholic scholars. 
                                                                                                                    REFERENCE  BX841.H37 

30e. The Collegeville Pastoral Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Collegeville, 1996; Carroll Stuhlmueller, gen. ed.). 

                                                                                                                    REFERENCE   BS417.C735 

30f. Theological Dictionary (Herder, 1961; K. Rahner and H. Vorgrimler).  English translation by R. Strachan in 1965, ed. by C. Ernst.  Entries are brief, but require intellectual effort and cross-referencing. 

                                                                                                                      BR95.R313 

30g.  Encyclopedia of Biblical Theology, edited by J.B. Bauer, 1959; Eng. translation from the 1967 third German edition. It is also available in three volumes, as The Complete Sacramentum Verbi

                                                                                                        REFERENCE    BS440.B46713 
                                                                                                                                  BS440.B4313 
                                                                                                                                         (3 vol. Edition) 
 

30h.  Dictionary of Theology, by Louis Bouyer (1963, Desclee; tr.  C. Ouinn, 1965). 

                                                                                                           REFERENCE   BR95.B6413 

30i.   Augustine Through the Ages: An Encylcopedia, edited by Allan Fitzgerald, et al.  (Eerdmans, 1999).  This volume of 900 pages contains 500 articles by 150 scholars.  It includes a complete list of Augustine's almost 120 extant writings (5 million words worth!), with a list of editions, translations, and brief background (p. xxxv-il); the list of his 300 Letters is given on p. 299-395 (sv.  "Epistulae").  Topics center around the life, writings, influences, thoughts, and authority of Augustine.  Given the importance of Augustine in the history and development of Christian Theology in the West, and his (often hidden) influence in the works of Dante, this volume is appropriately included in a Dante Bibliography.  A list of the titles of articles is at the front. Although there is no general bibliography, each entry concludes with a brief bibliography.  ISBN = 0-8028-3843-X 

                                                                                                          REFERENCE B 655.Z69A84.1999 (O'Neill)
                                                                                                                                 BQ 5737.F8 (St. John's)

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 Page   7
REFERENCE BOOKS FOR
GREEK AND LATIN AUTHORS OF THE CLASSICAL PERIOD
















31. The Oxford Classical Dictionary (Oxford, 1948; 1996=3rd edition, completely revised by S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth, eds.). More complete and more technical than the Oxford Companion listed next, this is the basic one-volume classical reference book in English. It is intended for both scholars and students. The standard abbreviation = OCD.

                                                                                                    REFERENCE   DE5.09.1996 

31a. The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization (Oxford, 1998; S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth, eds.). A reduced version of the OCD, with half the number of pages (800 compared to 1650) and slightly larger print. The major articles (e.g. "Cicero") are unabridged from the OCD version, but all individual bibliographies are omitted (there is a general bibliography at the back, on page 794), and the more "technical and recondite entries" from the OCD are omitted entirely. This is illustrated; the OCD is not. 

                                                                                                    REFERENCE    DE 5.092.1998 

31b. Lexikon der Alten Welt (Zurich, 1965; C. Andresen et al., eds.). The German version of the OCD. Similar in content and format to the OCD, it is twice as large (3500 pages compared to 1650 of the OCD) and includes early Christian literature as well as the classical material. Scholars will find the material in the appendices very helpful, namely lists of excavations of classical sites; lists of extant papyri and manuscripts; lists of the standard periodicals and major works in the field. Generalists will also find in the appendix (p. 3426-3424) a very helpful list of famous quotations from Greek and Latin authors ("geflugelte worte"), with translation (into German, obviously). This is a very important Lexikon, though it will need to be updated if it is to keep pace with the OCD

                                                                                                    REFERENCE    DE5.L63.1965 

31c. The Civilization of the Ancient Mediterranean: Greece and Rome (in three volumes). (Scribners, 1988; M. Grant and R. Kitzinger, eds.). Somewhat larger and in larger print than the Oxford Classical Dictionary, this seems to cover a wider variety of topics and some of them in greater depth than the OCD. At the beginning of each of the volumes is a complete index of all the topics covered in the whole set and there is a detailed list of subjects and sub-headings at the end of volume III. There is a bibliography at the end of each topic and a chronology at the beginning of volume 1. Total pages = 1832. An excellent companion to the OCD and on some topics much better. 
 

REFERENCE   DE 59.C55.1988 (three volumes)


  32. The New Oxford Companion to Classical Literature (Oxford, 1989; M.C. Howatson, ed.). This is a complete revision of the earlier Oxford Companion of 1937, by Paul Harvey (REF # = DE 5.H27), though the earlier version is still useful. This reference book is much less technical than either the OCD or the Companion to Classical Civilization. It is intended for the general audience of non-specialists who want to know the basics about persons, places, books, authors and customs of the Greek and Roman world. Like the others listed above, it is also in dictionary format. Note that it is shelved in the PA section, not the DE section, though it is similar to the other books listed above. 

                                                                                                    REFERENCE    PA 31.H69.1989 

33. A Classical Dictionary of Proper Names Mentioned in Ancient Authors, by John Lempriere (1788; rev. F.A. Wright, 1958). Lempriere had published this already a year before he graduated from Oxford in 1790! In doing this work of "a harmless drudge" he followed a precedent of an earlier Pembroke College fellow alumnus, Samuel Johnson, who entered Oxford in 1728 at the age of 19 and left a year later. To this "nest of singing birds" (as Johnson called Pembroke) came J. Lempriere in 1785. This Dictionary must have taken all of his energy, for he did little of note thereafter. The work is still very useful, especially for articles on mythology, because Lempriere cites the (often many) locations in the classical authors where a particular story is told or person mentioned. In more recent dictionaries, most likely for reasons of economy and cost, such full citations of so many authors are harder to find. In the dictionaries cited above, for example, only the more important loci would be cited. 

                                                                                                    REFERENCE    DE5.L5641 

33a. Ancient Writers: Greece and Rome (Scribners; 1982). Two volumes: I = Homer to Caesar; II = Lucretius to Ammianus Marcellinus. Essays on the major writers by excellent scholars. Bibliography at the end of each entry. Example: 40 pages on Homer (by W.B. Stanford); 30 on Virgil; 35 on Aristotle; etc. 

                                                                                                REFERENCE   PA 3002.A541982 

33b. The Cambridge History of Classical Literature. I = Greek (P.E. Easterling, B M W. Knox, eds.); II = Latin. (E.J. Kenney, W.V. Clausen, eds.). Longer and in greater depth, with more complete bibliographies, than the Ancient Writers above. 

                                                                                             REFERENCE    PA 3052.G73.1985 (Greek) 
                                                                                             REFERENCE    PA 6003.L3 (1982)(Latin) 

33c. Enciclopedia Virgiliana. (Francesco della Corte gen. ed.; Rome, 1984). Five volumes. Generously illustrated (some in color). The second volume of volume 5 has the Latin text of all Virgil's works, with facing Italian translation. The same volume has an extensive index to the whole encyclopedia, as well as a list of original sources (Latin texts) about Virgil's life. Entries to articles are in both Latin and Italian, so a knowledge of Latin words is most helpful. The main text, of course, is in Italian. 

                                                                                               REFERENCE    PA 6825.A3.1984 

33d. Cambridge Companion to Virgil (C. Martindale; Cambridge, 1997). Similar to the Cambridge Companion to Dante. Covers all of Virgil's works. 
                                                                                                                        PA 6825.C35.1997 

33e. A Virgil Concordance (H.H. Warwick; Minnesota, 1975). 
                                                                                                                        PA 6952.W3 

33f. Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Post-Classical World (G.W. Bowersock et al., eds.; Harvard, 1999). 

                                                                                                                        DE 5.L29.1999 

33g. Atlas of the Classical World (A. van der Heyden, H.H. Scullard, eds.; Nelson, 1959). The best atlas for this period - generously illustrated, with plenty of maps, charts and accompanying text. A shorter version is next to it. 

                                                                                                REFERENCE    DE 29.H463 (1959) 

33h. Atlas of the Roman World (T. Cornell, J. Matthews, eds.; Phaidon, 1982). Has an interesting old map inside front cover; also a chronological chart. 

                                                                                                     REFERENCE    DG 77.C597.1982 

33i. The Oxford Latin Dictionary (P.G.W. Glare, ed.; Oxford, 1982). The standard single-volume reference book for the Latin language of the classical authors. Many citations of specific passages to illustrate the uses of each word. 

                                                                                                    REFERENCE    PA 2365.E5.09.1982 

33j. Cassell's Latin Dictionary (D.P. Simpson; Macmillan, 1977). One of the more popular single-volume dictionaries used by students for quick and basic reference. Originally published in 1854. 

                                                                                                    REFERENCE   PA 2365.E5.C3.1977 

34. The Loeb Classical Library. (Harvard University Press) This is a series of more than 400 volumes of the classical Greek and Latin authors, with original text and facing English translation. Some volumes are being revised (in some cases because the original translations were not the best) and some new authors and texts added to the series. The emphasis is on the basic text and translation, not on critical text and associated apparatus or extensive footnotes. Most classical authors are represented, and I believe all of those referred to by Dante are in this series - including such later authors as Augustine, Jerome and Boethius, though that is by exception, since the emphasis is on the writers of the classical period, not later. The series is shelved together in the stacks, both here and at St. John's. Greek volumes are bound in green, Latin in red. Greek = PA3611; Latin = PA6156. 

                                                                                               STACKS   PA3611 (Greek); 6156 (Latin) 

35. Sources chretiennes. (Paris, 1941 ff; H.deLubac, J. Danielou, et al, eds.). Like the Loeb, this is a unique series (now up to volume number 424) of texts with facing translation (into French) from Christian writers of antiquity, especially the Greek and Latin Fathers of the Church. Unlike the Loeb, however, this series puts more emphasis on the text and text tradition, especially in all but the earliest volumes in the series. At the back of the more recent volumes there is an index of all the authors so far published in the series. It is largely to the inspiration and work of the Jesuits in France, especially Henri deLubac and Jean Danielou (later Cardinals), that we owe the treasure of this series. There is no comparable work in English (but we do have crucifixes in the classrooms). Volumes are shelved together at St. John's, but not in O'Neill Library, where they are scattered by author.

                                                                                      O’Neill                                St. John’s BQ 315.S6 
                                                                                      scattered                              BQ 315.S6 

Back to Index


                                                                                                                       Page   8 
Reference Books For Greek and Latin Authors (con't)

36. Classical Texts and Commentaries.  The original texts (some with translation) and commentaries on classical authors are shelved in the PA section of the library, in alphabetical order, with Greek authors first.  Thus, Aeschylus is PA3825.A2 ff.; Virgil begins at PA 6801 and goes to 6961.  At the end of each author's section there may be concordances to that author, and before that (and after the texts and commentaries) are books about that author's writings. Lexicons for that author are also at the end, where the concordances are. 

        In reading Dante you will have many one occasions to check out a reference in depth, which will necessitate going to the commentaries.  For example, in Inferno  I :108 Dante mentions "Eurialo . . . e Niso." Usually the footnotes in the translation will mention the classical locus where that story is told - in this case Virgil's Aeneid IX: 176-449.  You will then go, most likely, to Philip Hardie's recent commentary on Aeneid Book IX (published in the Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics series in 1994) and see what he has to say ad loc.  Since it is a famous episode (you may already suspect this, given the way Virgil narrates it), and this is a very recent and full commentary, you will find a lot of information - including an excursus in the introduction to the commentary, not just his remarks ad loc.  And you can find Hardie's commentary without knowing the call number: Virgil will be shelved last in the classical authors section, and texts and commentaries of Virgil's works will appear at the beginning of his section. (This particular commentary, by the way, has the original Latin text - as most do, but not a translation.) 

        Since these commentaries follow the line numbers of the original Greek and Latin texts, you have to know the original line numbers in order to find the locus you are seeking in the commentary.  Most translations place somewhere on the page the original line numbers that correspond to the section being translated on that page.  A little intelligent guesswork and you will discover the appropriate section/line(s) in the commentary.  If more is needed to discover what you seek, then go to the Loeb translation, which faces the original Greek or Latin text on the same page and synchronizes the lines of text with translation more accurately.  (For the Loeb series see #34 above.)

                                                                                                                 STACKS = PA3825 to PA6961 

36a.   For authors of the post-classical period there is no single series with text and facing translation in English (as with the Loeb series for classical authors), though there are several series with either original text or English translation.  The former include CSEL (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum; Vienna, 1866ff. = BR60.C), and the (uncritical) Migne series (Patres Graeci, in 161 volumes, and Patres Latini, in 2l7 volumes; Paris, 1878-1890; = BR60.M4). Among the latter are: The Fathers of the Church (1947ff; = BR60.F3); The Ancient Christian Writers (1946ff; = BR60.A35); the Ante-Nicene Fathers (=BR6OA52) and the Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (=BR60.S4 and S42). 

 The major commentaries on Dante usually include a bibliography of critical editions of both classical and post-classical authors useful for the study of Dante, especially those editions that include an English translation and (possibly) original text/commentary.  Such is the case, for example, in the recent (1996) Oxford edition of the Inferno by Robert Durling.  See pages 590-593 of Durling’s Inferno for such a list of editions of these authors; for Durling’s text and commentary see #13 above. 

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Page   9
Some Currently Available Translations of Dante's

DIVINE COMEDY



NOTE: Please consult also the section on RECENT COMMENTARIES IN ENGLISH (the second section in this Bibliography) since some of those also have accompanying translations, though the focus there is on the commentary. The focus in this section is on the translations, whether or not a commentary or notes accompanies it.
   

  This list begins with the most recent translations and works back to the older ones.  Most are (or were) available in paperback, some in more than one volume, and most also have footnotes and commentary of some sort.  Some also are bilingual.  Not knowing Italian, I cannot comment on the quality of a translation.  Many translators, however, do make some remarks about the task of translating Dante and the reasons for the approach they take to the original text.  See, for example, Musa's comments in his introduction to his translation of the Inferno in the Penguin text ("On Being a Good Lover," p. 57-64); C.H. Sisson's comments in the introduction to his translation in the World's Classics Series (Oxford, 1980; 1993 - p. 39-43); and many others.  See also the comments that T.S. Eliot makes about understanding Dante in his essay of 1929. 

        Jean and Robert Hollander have published a bilingual translation of the INFERNO (2000) and PURGATORIO (2002), each available also in paperback. Generous notes at the end of each Canto (about 10 pages per Canto), with a brief outline of each Canto at the beginning. There is an index of names, places and topics mentioned in the text and in the notes. There is also a bibliography of sources cited. The translation owes much to Sinclair's (1939; see below) and strives for accuracy. Presumably their translation of the PARADISO will be appearing soon, to complete a three-volume set. INFERNO = 634 pages; PURGATORIO = 742 pages. Hollander, who has long taught Dante at Princeton, is also the director of the Dartmouth Dante Project. The web site at Princeton = http://www.princeton.edu/dante. Though free, registration is required.

                                                                                                INFERNO         ISBN = 0-35-49697-4
                                                                                                PURGATORIO ISBN = 0-35-49699-5

          Anthony Esolen (Providence College), poetic translation with facing Italian text. Notes at back. Modern Library/Random House: 2002, 2003, 2004. Three volumes; the first two are already available also in paperback.

        W. S. Merwin, Purgatorio, poetic translation with facing Italian text.  Brief notes at back.  Knopf, 2000.  Very brief notes and introduction; no index.  360 pages.  $30.00
                                                                                                ISBN =0-375-40921-1

         Kethryn Lindskoog, Divine Comedy, in prose, with brief notes.  3 volumes.  Macon, Georgia; 1997.

        Robert M. Durling and Ronald L. Martinez, Inferno  (Oxford, 1996) and Purgatorio (2003).  Bilingual; prose translation.  Notes (by Durling and Ronald L. Martinez) at end of each Canto and general essays on some Cantos at back of book.  Will be in three volumes.  The best indexes and the most recent classified bibliography.  Attractively printed.  For more important information, see the more detailed entry earlier at #13 in this bibliography, under "Commentaries." 
 

        Mark Musa (Indiana, 1996).  A major text and commentary series; all six volumes have appeared.  Bilingual; poetic translation.  For this edition Musa has made about 500 changes in his previous translation.  For more detailed information on this edition, see comments earlier at #12 in this bibliography, under "Commentaries."   
 

            Viking Portable Dante (1995).  Done by Mark Musa, with brief notes at the bottom of the pages.  Contains also the Vita Nuova.  Intended to replace the earlier (1947) Portable Dante (by Paolo Milano; notes by Grandgent; trans. of Laurence Binyon).  One volume.  Not as extensive as his Penguin  3 volume edition. 
 

            Robert Pinsky (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1994).  Bilingual; poetic translation.  Footnotes (which are not extensive) are at the back of the book.  Only the Inferno has appeared.  Selections also available on cassette, read by John Cleese (Audio Literature Tapes; 2 cassettes = 3 hours).  Pinsky is Poet Laureate of the USA and teaches at Boston University.  No index, glossary or bibliography. 
 

         Mark Musa (Indiana, 1971-1984; now in Penguin paperback).  Three volumes.  Poetic translation.  Notes after each Canto and introduction at beginning of each Canto.  Good glossary at end of each volume (for that volume only) and a brief bibliography.  A very popular edition by a fine Dante scholar.  More extensive than his Viking Portable edition of 1995. 
 

                Allen Mandelbaum (California, 1980-82).  Bilingual; poetic translation. Three volumes (Bantam paperback).  Footnotes at back and brief bibliography.  Some illustrations.  No index or glossary.  See page 2a (#14a, under "Commentaries") on companion commentary to this translation. 
 

           Charles H. Sisson (tr.) and David Higgins (notes). (Oxford 1980; 1993 notes; World's Classics Series).  One volume.  Blank verse translation.  Notes at the back; brief bibliography.  No index or glossary.  An excellent single-volume paperback edition. 

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 Page   10
Translations of the Divine Comedy (cont'd.)













       Charles S. Singleton (Princeton, 1970-75; Bollingen Series LXXX).  Along with Musa's work (in progress) this is the best commentary in English.  Six volumes – three text and facing prose translation, three of commentary.  For more details on this see #11 in this bibliography, under "Commentaries".  Also available in paperback.  There are multiple copies of this six volume set on the reserve shelf in O'Neill.  This is also available through the Dartmouth Dante Project web-site. 
 

            Louis Biancolli (1966).  Three volumes, hardcover.  Bilingual; blank verse translation.  No commentary.  I don't think this is available in paperback.  No index or glossary. Illustrations by Harry Bennett. (Washington Square Press) Copy also at St. John's (=PQ4302.F66a (1966)) 
 

      John Ciardi (1954-1970, Norton; Mentor paperback).  Three volumes in paperback (Mentor) and in hardcover (Modern Library, 1996).  One volume in Norton hardcover (1970).  Poetic translation.  Footnotes after each Canto.  No index or glossary or bibliography.  Part available in recording (Inferno, Canto 1-8 = Folkways FL9871), read by Ciardi himself on a 33.3 record. 
 

         Dorothy Sayers (1949-1962; Penguin paperback).  Three volumes. Verse translation.  Notes after each Canto and introduction before each one.  Excellent glossary at end of each volume (for that volume only) and brief bibliography also.  It is important to consult the glossary because information is given there that is not always given in the notes.  Inferno, Canto I-VI, is available on tape, read by Ian Richardson (Caedmon CDL51632); 60 minutes.  Along with Musa and Ciardi this is a popular choice of school texts of the Comedy
 

        Viking Portable Dante (1947).  Replaced by the translation of Mark Musa (1995).  See there (above) for further comments. 
 

       John D. Sinclair (Oxford, 1939).  Three volumes.  Bilingual; prose translation.  All commentary is after each Canto (so no one can set your napkin for your breakfast).  No glossary, but there is an index of persons and places mentioned in the entire Comedy at the back of the third volume (Paradiso), pages 493-504 in the paperback edition.  I know of no other comparable edition that has this feature or a comprehensive index.  Copy also at St. John's (=PQ4302 and 4315) 

         Modern Library (1932).  One volume.  Prose translation, notes after each Canto.  Introduction by Grandgent.  No index or glossary.  Uses the CarlyleOkey-Wicksteed translation for each respective part of the Comedy.  Recently (1996) the Modern Library added the Ciardi version to its hardcover publications (in three volumes).  The 1932 version is also available in Vintage paperback. 

            Temple Classics (London, 1900).  Three volumes, hardcover.  Brief notes at the bottom of each Page.  Bilingual; prose translation of Carlyle-Okey-Wicksteed, as in Modern Library above.  A nicely printed and pocket-sized edition (unique in that respect).  Brief notes also at the end of each Canto. 

             Charles H. Grandgent (Harvard, 1909; revised in 1933 and 1972 by Charles S. Singleton).  This was the first annotated edition of the Comedy published in America.  One volume; Italian text only.  Excellent introductions to each Canto; brief footnotes.  Index of the entire Comedy at the back (p. 937-950).  For more information, see #14 in this bibliography, under "Commentaries". 

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Page    11
Translations of the Divine Comedy (cont'd.)












          H.F. Cary (1814; 1844 revised; Oxford edition, 1923).  Poetic translation.  The Everyman edition (ed. 1903)  has brief notes at bottom of the pages and brief index at the back.  The Oxford edition (1923) has fuller notes at the back and an index.  It is entitled The Vision of Dante in the Oxford 'blue' Classics series.  Of Cary it is said (in the DNB, by Richard Garnett) that he “has in a great measure preserved Dante's transparent simplicity and intense vividness” and that "Cary's standard is lower, and his achievement less remarkable, than that of many of his successors, but he, at least, has made Dante an Englishman, and they have left him half an Italian." The 1814 translation (better than the 1844 revision) has been re-issued in the Everyman series, edited by Ralph Pite (1994) in a single volume paperback with a brief selection of Cary's 1814 notes at the back.  This is the first time since 1814 that this originaltranslation of Cary has been reprinted. 
 

          Daniel Halpern has edited a volume entitled Dante's Inferno, Translated by 20 Contemporary Poets (Ecco Press, 1993).  Poets include Seamus Heaney (for Inferno, Cantos I-III), W.S. Merwin, Robert Pinsky, etc.  Brief notes included. 

            Tom Phillips has published-a blank-verse translation of the Inferno, with many full-page illustrations by him.  I believe this is available only in hardcover (London, 1985). 

          Mark Musa has published an edition of the Inferno in the Indiana Press Critical Editions series (1995), also available in paperback.  Includes his own verse translation; no Italian text.  Notes follow each Canto.  There are 140 pages of ten essays on various topics about the Inferno, written by different scholars, at the end of this volume.  These essays are the main difference, as far as I can see, between this edition and the earlier Penguin text by Musa.  The translation is mainly the same, as are the notes, but the Penguin introduction is much more complete; the notes that in the Penguin come at the beginning of each Canto are all placed at the beginning of the book in this new edition.  In the new edition the pages and print are larger, so it is much easier to read.  Also in the newer edition quotations from the classical authors are given in the original Latin, with no translation; in the Penguin version these quotes are given only in English translation.  There are a few minor changes elsewhere from the Penguin edition: for example, in Inferno I:2 the "woods" of the Penguin becomes, in the newer edition, woods.  If you place some importance on the essays and/or on a book that is easier to read, you will prefer this edition to the Penguin.  Otherwise there is no reason to do so, especially because I'm sure the Penguin edition will remain cheaper and it is also part of  a three volume series. 
 

                Elio Zappula has published a poetic translation of the INFERNO (1998; Random House).  Brief footnotes follow each canto; there is no Italian text. 

             Peter Dale has a terza rima translation (1996; London).  No notes or Italian. 

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Page  12 


GLOSSARIES
















          Only two of the translations listed in this bibliography have a glossary of people, places and (to some extent) subjects mentioned in the Divine Comedy : the three-volume editions of Musa and Sayers. 

           The principle of reference in both cases is the same: the glossary is for that volume only, unless - in the case of the second and third volumes - a person/place has been mentioned in an earlier volume.  In that case the glossary will make note of that earlier reference.  For example, Nisus (Inf.  I:108) is mentioned in the glossary for volume I, but not again in the other two volumes because he does not appear in the Purgatorio or Paradiso.  The Tiber, on the other hand, is mentioned in all three volumes, with previous loci cited in the later volumes. 

            It is important to note that if the footnotes to the text contain an extensive description of a person/place, then the glossary will contain only a brief description.  So you have to check the footnotes in addition to the glossary.  Actually I have sometimes found that the opposite is also true sometimes the glossary has information that was not mentioned in the footnote. 

              Obviously, then, for a complete glossary of the entire Comedy you have to go to the major reference books listed at the beginning of this bibliography. 
 
 

INDEXES















             Only a few have an index of persons and places in the entire Comedy.  Sinclair's is at the back of the Paradiso volume.  The Grandgent-Singleton text (the one with the text only in Italian) has an index at the back, as does the Oxford edition of Cary's translation. 

              The six-volume Singleton edition, in the Bollingen series from Princeton, has an index in the back of each of the three text-translation volumes, but only for persons/places mentioned in that part of the Comedy.  There is no complete index of the whole Comedy

            In the recent Musa edition of the Inferno (part of a projected six-volume series from Indiana University Press) the only index is to the persons and topics mentioned in the commentary volume, not to the text itself. 

              The recently-published translation of the Inferno by Durling (Oxford, 1996) has several very useful indexes at the back: of Italian and other words discussed in the footnotes (p. 611-613); of passages from biblical, classical and medieval authors "mentioned in the notes" (614-624); of proper names and places mentioned in the footnotes (625-646); and proper names and places mentioned in the text of the Inferno itself (647-654).  It also has an excellent bibliography, divided by category (p. 587-609).  Call # PQ 4315.D87.1996 

              Finally, in Studies in Dante (First Series) by Edward Moore (1896; revised by Colin Hardie, 1969; Oxford) there is an index (and essays) of the scriptural and classical authors (including Augustine and Boethius) referred to in all the works of Dante. (p. 321-394)  The indexes work both ways: from Dante to the authors and vice-versa.  The Vulgate Bible is cited most (611 citations), then Aristotle (470), then Virgil (200), Augustine (12), Plato (8), etc. (In the Inferno there are about 220 references to the Bible and classical, authors.) This book is in O'Neill Library, call number PQ4390.M8. 

              At the back of the hardcover Everyman edition of Mandelbaum's translation  (1995) there is a seven-page index of (mainly) biblical and classical passages mentioned or alluded to in the Comedy.  The index goes from the Comedy text to the reference, not vice versa.  The original author of this index is not mentioned nor have I checked it for accuracy.  The index lists the standard abbreviations for the classical authors but not for the Bible; biblical citations are to the Douai-Rheims version (the English translation of the Latin text that Dante used).  There are also a few authors/texts more difficult to trace because appropriate abbreviations are not given. 

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Dante Bibliography
Page   13
Recordings of the Divine Comedy

                 The entire Comedy, read in Italian, is available in twelve cassettes, four cassettes per section.  Readers are Arnaldo Foa and three others.  There is a brief general introduction (in Italian), and a briefer introduction (also in Italian) to each Canto.  The parts I have heard are very clear and easy to follow.  No accompanying text is provided.  The original version of this is a boxed set of 18 long-playing records (33.3), with three boxes of six records for each part of the Comedy.  This is a gift of Prof. Joseph Figurito of the Boston College Romance Languages Department, not yet catalogued (the set of original records, that is). The director of this recording project was Nattalino Sapegno, for Centra Records, collana letteraria documenta. There should be a booklet that accompanies each part of the Comedy in this set of records, but that has not been found yet.  Only the cassettes are catalogued.  Cassette #1 has Cantos I-IX of Inferno

                                                                                                              AUDIO-VISUAL ROOM 
                                                                                                               PQ4302.F61.#1-12 
 

             Selections from the Inferno, in the Dorothy Sayers translation, is available in a reading by Ian Richardson on Caedmon (CDL 51632).  Cantos I-VI only.  On audio-cassette.  No accompanying text. 

                                                                                                            AUDIO-VISUAL ROOM 
                                                                                                             PQ4315.2l.S29x 
 

           Cantos I-VIII of the Inferno, in the translation of John Ciardi, is available on Folkways records (FL 9871), read by Ciardi himself.  An English text accompanies this long-playing (33.3) record. 

                                                                                                               AUDIO-VISUAL ROOM 
                                                                                                               PQ4315.2l.C52 (1954) 
 

              Selections from the Inferno, in the recent translation of Robert Pinsky, is available in reading by John Cleese on Audio Literature Tapes.  There is no indication on the cover as to what is omitted, but from the length of the recording it would seem that most of the Inferno is read.  No text is provided.  Two cassettes=three hours total time.  ISBN = 1-57453-132-8.  The Honors Program also has a copy of this recording. 

                                                                                                                AUDIO-VISUAL ROOM 
                                                                                                                PQ 4315.2.P472 (1997) 

Back to Index

                                                                             Page    13a


 The entire INFERNO is read by a variety of poets (Seamus Heaney, Frank Bidart, Louise Gluck and Robert Pinsky, using the translation of Pinsky.  Total running time = 6 hours on 4 cassettes.  Penguin Audiobooks.  No text is included.  ISBN =  0-14-087638-4.  The Honors Program also has a copy of this recording. 

                                                                                                      AUDIO-VISUAL ROOM 
                                                                                                      PQ 4315.2.P472. 1998 

THE DIVINE COMEDY, read in English by Grover Gardner, using a translation of Herbert A. Kenney (a Boston College alumnus?). 8 cassettes = 12 hours.  Unabridged.  Audio Book Contractors, 1992.  This sounds like a prose narrative to me. (I listened only to Canto 1 of INFERNO)   The translation incorporates things that might be in footnotes.  For example, the 'meaning' of the four beasts is incorporated into the translation when they come on the scene, though Dante himself, as far as I know, nowhere explicitly says just what they 'represent'.  I presume the purpose of this is to help the listener avoid the use of footnotes.  Use, therefore, with caution.  Don't believe everything you hear! 
 

AUDIO-VISUAL ROOM 
 PQ 4315.K46.1992 

 

The  complete Divine Comedy  is read by Heathcote Williams on Naxos Audiobooks  in a translation made for this recording by Benedict Flynn.  9 cassettes/CDs = 12 hours total 

                                                                                                               AUDIO-VISUAL ROOM 
                                                                                                                Not yet available. 

        Inferno I-VIII is read in Italian by Enrico de Negri on Folkways records (FL 9977). 
Italian text of the entire Comedy is provided. 

                                                                                                                AUDIO-VISUAL ROOM 
                                                                                                                 Not yet available. 

Note:  Some of these recordings are presently on reserve in the audio-visual room.  See that section of the bibliography for the listing. 

Back to Index

 

 Page   14 
SOME ITALIAN AND ENGLISH DICTIONARIES

            The Cambridge Italian Dictionary (Cambridge, 1962-1980; Barbara Reynolds, gen. ed.). In two volumes: Italian-English and English-Italian.

REFERENCE   PC1640.R4


           Il Nuovo Ragazzini: Dizionario Inglese-Italiano, Italiano-Inglese. (1967; 1984=second edition; Giuseppi Ragazzini).  One volume. 

REFERENCE   PC1640.R26


           Standard Italian and English Dictionary (Sansoni & Harrap: Florence & London, 1970-1975; Vladimiro Macchi. gen. ed.). In four volumes: Part I = Italian to English; Part II = English to Italian. 

REFERENCE  PC1640.S3


               Il Nuovo Zingarelli: Vocabulario delta Lingua Italiana (Bologna, 1922; 1984 = llth edition; M. Dogliotti & L. Rosiello, eds.). In Italian only. 

REFERENCE  PC1625.Z5


                 Vocabulario Illustrato della Lingua Italiana (Florence, 1967; G. Devoto & G.C. Oli).  Two volumes; in Italian only.  Also their Dizionario della lingua italiana  (Florence, 1971). 

REFERENCE  PC1625.D4 

 

More recently (1993, in The Cambridge Companion to Dante, published by Cambridge and edited by Rachel Jacoff), Robert Hollander of Princeton remarks: ". . . the commentary tradition is usually interesting but hardly always 'correct.' One of its greatest uses is to make our mistakes for us and in this way force us to examine them." (p.227) He concludes, helpfully (p. 235): "Perhaps dantisti will increasingly come to realize that no one has ever cornered the market on being right or interesting.  One never knows where the fruitful interpretation may be found.  Commentators . . . who may not be . . . particularly gifted, have their moments.  There is hardly anyone from whom we cannot learn, at one time or another." So we need not, therefore, lasciamo ogni speranza

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Page   15
Web-based DANTE Projects (compiled by Otfried Lieberknecht)                           (as of May, 1999) 

I Classici della Letteratura Italiana, since 1998, maintained by Giuseppe Bonghi.  Based in Novara, Istituto Tecnico Industriale Statale <<Giacomo Fauser>> and FauserNet.  Supplies online versions of, and introductory materials to, selected works of various Italian authors: 
                    - Dante, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Goldoni Manzoni
                             Leopardi Pirandello

DanteNet, since 1996, based in Princeton University, projected as "An Online Service for Dante Scholars provided by The Dante Society Of America". 
                -The Dante Society of America (general info) 
                  -Electronic Bulletin of the Dante Society of America (online version) and Rules of Submission
                  -The American Dante Bibliography (online version maintained by Richard Lansing and Brandeis Library

•  Dartmouth Dante Project, founded in 1982, directed by Robert Hollander of Princeton:: Database containing more than 50 Dante commentaries.   The DDP is based in Dartmouth College and was created in collaboration with Princeton University
                        -Project description (supplied by DanteNet, Princeton) 
                         - WWW Interface (select "By Name" and then go to letter "D" and select "Dante Dartmouth Project"
                        -Telnet connection: library.dartmouth.edu (at the login type CONNECT DANTE). 
                          -Dante Database Quick Reference Guide and List of Commentators in the DDP (supplied for Dante 
                                  course of Nancy Vickers, University of Southern California) 
 
 

Devers Program in Dante Studies: The William and Katherine Devers Program in Dante Studies, established in 1995 through a donation to the University of Notre Dame, directed by Theodore J. Cachey, various activities and projects, some of them Web based: 
                      -History of the Program and Contact addresses
                      - Zahm Dante Collection: Online Catalog, Recent Acquisitions, History of the Zahm Dante Collection
                      -Lecture series: Fall 1996, Spring 1997, Fall 1997, Spring 1998, Fall 1998
                       -The William and Katherine Devers Series in Dante Studies, Editorial
                        -Devers Program Grants
                        -Collaborative projects in the frame of the consortium ItalNet:
                                            -Online Exhibit Renaissance Dante in Print (1472-1629), Zahm Dante Collection 
                                                     in  collaboration with The Newberry Library
                                           - Electronic publication of the <<Opera del Vocabolario Italiano>>
                                            -Inventory-Catalogue of the Drawings in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana
                                             -“Progetto Italica” Language Course (see also Theodore J. Cachey's Corso base
                                         di  Lingua italiana on the server of the RAI project ITALICA, Campus Virtuale 
                                                di Lingua e Cultura Italiana)
                                              -International Gramsci Society Homepage

       Digital Dante, since 1992, based in the Institute for Learning Technologies, Columbia University, directed by Teodolinda Barolini and Robert 0. McClintock, project manager Jennifer Hogan.  Presented as "a long-term effort (... ) to prototype and develop an online, multimedia Dante-related academic resource combining traditional elements of scholarly research with new communication and presentation possibilities enabled by networked digital technology".  Supplies online versions of the Commedia (together with English translations) and various related texts and picture materials.

ITALICA, Campus Virtuale di Lingua e Cultura Italiana, developed by RAI International together with various scholars and institutions. 
         • The Area Dante offers online courses by: 
                        • Claudio Giunta, La letteratura italiana al tempo di Dante 
                        • Guglielmo Gorni, La Vita Nova di Dante Alighieri 
                        • Marco Santagata, Francesca e Paolo: lettura del V canto dell'Infemo 
    • See also the 'areas' Lingua italiana (courses by Francesco Bruni, Theodore J. Cachey, Mirko Tavoni) and Rinascimento (Amedeo Quondam, Claudia Cieri Via) 

The World of Dante, by Deborah Parker (University of Virginia), “offers a hypermedia environment for the study of the Inferno”, that is, an SGML tagged version of the Inferno with illustrations (Dore and various other sources), a search function and, if you are using a VRML-capable Web browser or a VRML plug-in, a "3D View of Dante's Inferno" 

Visit also The Decameron Web (Brown University, Providence) and HyperDecameron (Universite de Lille III) 
 
 

Back to Index

Electronic Resources

The Dartmouth Dante Project is an ongoing effort to put the entire text of 50 commentaries, ancient and modern, into a single database.  This project is overseen by Robert Hollander of Princeton University. 

At the end of his recently-published collection of canto-by-canto commentaries on the INFERNO, Allen Mandelbaum appends a note about other electronic resources, particularly (but not exclusively) for updated information on bibliography.  I print this note below (from page 448 of his INFERNO commentary, described earlier in this bibliography. 

                 Two current American periodicals-the annual Dante Studies (=PQ4331.A35) 
                 (published by the Dante Society of America, founded in 1881) and Lectura Dantis
                (=PQ 4331.A36 (cf.p. 2a-b of this bibliog.))  (published at the University of Virginia 
                 since 1987) - are entirely devoted to Dante.  A number of other periodicals in the 
                  field of modern languages regularly publish articles on Dante.  Since 1953 Dante 
               Studies has published an annual annotated bibliography, first (1953-84) under the 
                 editorship of Anthony L. Pellegrini, then (1984-90) under that of Christopher Kleinhenz. 
               An Italian Dante bibliography for 1988-90, prepared by Federico Sanguineti, was 
               originally published in Dante Studies 112 (1994). 

All these bibliographies are now accessible in a searchable electronic format developed by Richard Lansing-The American Dante Bibliography-either through the Dante Society of America's homepage: 
 <http:/ /www.princeton.edu/~dante/ > 
or at Brandeis University: 
 <http:/ /www.brandeis.edu/library/dante/index.html>
More online Dante bibliographies are displayed at the ORB (Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies) website: 
 <http:/ /www.ilt.columbia.edu/projects/dante/index.html> 
Links to these and other websites, as well as additional Dante materials, are conveniently located on Otfried Lieberknecht's extremely useful homepage for Dante studies: 
 <http:/ /members.aol.com/lieberk/welcome.html>
 
 

Back to Index


Page  16 
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE DIVINE COMEDY

VARIOUS ILLUSTRATORS OF THE D.C. 

Eugene Delacroix                           1798-1863 

William Blake                                 1757-1827 

Gustave Dore                                 1822-1883 (done between 1857 and 1868) 

Sandro Botticelli                             1444-1510 

Luca Signorelli                               ca l450-1523 

John Flaxman                                 1755-1826 (Dante engravings in 1802; he had already done 
                                                     Homer and Aeschylus) 

Salvador Dali                                 1904-1989.  He did the Comedy in 1951-52. 
 
 

SOME BOOKS OF ILLUSTRATIONS OF DANTE'S DIVINE COMEDY:

**) The two asterisks represent recommended texts. 
The Blake and Dore illustrations are on our own web site at: 
                                                           "Humanities House"
 

Bindman, David.  William Blake: His Art and Times.  London, 1982. 

A relatively sparse collection of drawings pertaining to Dante is contained in this book.  The four sketches are in black and white.  The sketches are very useful because they contain allegorical and historical information pertinent to them.  The description of some of the works (pages 43-44) is definitely worth reading; it gives the reader a sense of Blake's style.  


Bapst Library NE642.B5A4  (1982)


**Clark, Kenneth.  The Drawings by Sandro Boticelli for Dante's Divine Comedy: After the Originals in the Berlin Museum and the Vatican.  Commentaries by George Robinson and introduction by Clark. The translation used is by John Ciardi.  London, 1976. 

This is an outstanding book and should be considered necessary for any serious student of Dante.  This book covers nearly every Canto, including a synopsis of the Canto, and a quote with a pertaining drawing by Boticelli.  Few of the drawings are in color, but they are highly detailed and easily seen in such a large book.  To be noted especially is Bonticelli's use of line which is so easily seen in his drawing.  This makes an excellent precursor to study of his later line-oriented works such as the Birth of Venus (1480).  Bapst Library has 2 copies with 2 different call numbers.  They are oversized and may be on a different shelf.

Bapst  NC1055.B7C5x 
second # = NC257.B68.A44.1976 
(both copies currently on reserve shelf) 


*Guttuso, Renato.  Il Dante di Guttuso: Cinquantasei tavole dantesche disegnate da Renato Guttoso.  Milan, 1970. This book is much like Clark's but contains no synopsis.  It has only verses in the Italian.  There are numerous largescale color photographs of drawings and paintings by Guttuso.  It is especially interesting to see the contrasts in the artists rendering of figure and choice of color from the Inferno to the Paradisio
 
 

Bapst     NC257.D3.G79


**Huyghe, Rene.  Delacroix.  New York, 1963. 
This book’s entire focus is on Delacroix and therefore it is concerned little with Dante.  There are merely three panels concerning Dante and some brief historical information surrounding them.  Despite this, Delacroix's Dante Meeting Virgil is certainly a piece worth viewing. 

 Bapst   ND553.D33H793


**Pope-Hennessy, John.  Paradiso: The Illuminations of Dante's Divine Comedy by Giovanni di Paolo.  New York, 1993. 
An outstanding book focusing with encyclopedic detail on the third book of Dante's Divine Comedy.  It begins with instructive introduction and finishes with many illustrations with comments and full-page details.  This Gothic art is very expressive and thus well suited to the more dramatic sections of the Divine Comedy

Bapst  ND3162.G57P67.1993 
(currently on reserve shelf) 
Butlin, Martin. The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake.  Yale, 1981. This book contains no illustrations at all but lists every single work ever done by Blake on the Divine Comedy.  This book would be very useful as reference text for the serious student of Dante or Blake who wishes to research or find lesser-known works by Blake. 
Bapst  N6797.B57B87
**Roe, Albert S. Blake's Illustration to the Divine Comedy.  Princeton, 1953.  In essence this is an art history book.  The pictures are mostly black and white and there is not all that much about Dante.  It is, however, an excellent introduction to Blake's motivations and situation concerning his work on the Divine Comedy.  It discusses Blake's style at length, using specific works to illustrate points.  The chapter on Blake's symbolism is especially noteworthy. 
 
Bapst  NC233.B5R6 
(currently on reserve shelf) 
(2 copies) 

 

 Oxford Companion to Christian Art and Architecture (1996; Peter and Linda Murray;    Oxford University Press).  


BAPST REFERENCE   N7830.  M87


 Iconography of Christian Art (1968, Gertrud Schiller; tr.  Janet Seligman; London, 1972).  Two volumes, copiously illustrated. (See, for example vol.  II, #681-685, for illustrations of the Imago Pietatis/Man of Sorrows that Dante may have in mind for his image of the sinner visible from the waist up in INFERNO Canto X:33 ff., on Farinata). 

BAPST REFERENCE N7830.S3513 


 Medieval Art: A Topical Dictionary, by Leslie Ross (1996; London). 
 

BAPST REFERENCE             N7850.R67


Salvador Dali e Dante. (ed.  Corrado Gizzi; Milan, 1997).  The second part of this book (p. 115-216) has full-page color illustrations for each canto of the Inferno only, with a brief text below.  These illustrations are explained on pages 235-274.  The first part of the book has general essays about Dali and/or Dante, with many color illustrations (p 17-112).  There is also a chronology of Dali (p. 276-278) and a bibliography (p. 279-281).  A splendid volume.  Text, however, is in Italian; small problem for such a fine book. 302 pages.  ISBN = 88-374-1595-8 (hardcover).  


BAPST LIBRARY      ND 2002.D3A4.1997 
(currently on reserve shelf) 


Salvador Dali: La Divina Commedia E Altri Temi. (ed.  Gian Luca Gualandi; Bologna, 1995).  This book is set up in an unusual way: on two facing pages the same canto number of each of the three parts of the Comedy is illustrated in color, with both a brief selection (in Italian) from the text and a picture by Dali.  Only canto 34 of Inferno, which has no parallel in the other two parts of the Comedy, is represented by itself at the end - with a  picture of you-know-who all to his Satanic Self.  There is a brief index as well as an introductory essay by the editor (p. 11-21).  Because there are three pictures  on each set of two facing pages, however, the pictures are smaller than those in the volume by Gizzi mentioned above.  The Gizzi volume also seems to have a wider range of Dali's work because Gualandi attends only to the Comedy.  Both books have their text in Italian.  A very fine and unusual book, particularly because the close proximity of similarly-numbered cantos of the three parts of the Comedy on facing pages makes comparison of the three parts very easy.  107 pages.   ISBN    88-85345-37-9 (paperback). Note that the call number is the same as the previous book, except for the date at the end.  The book is paperback, so handle with care.  


BAPST LIBRARY  ND 2002.D3A4x,1995 
(currently on reserve shelf)
Back to Index
 
 

ILLUSTRATED BOOKS AND COMMENTARIES FOR THE DIVINE COMEDY
















The Divine Comedy, tr.  Henry Francis Cary. (T.Y. Crowell and Co, Boston, 1897) Translation into English.  There was quite a large amount of commentary with the text, yet not as much as Flaxman's.  It was old and in poor condition.  There were few pictures of things having to do with Dante and not the work itself.  


O'NEILL LIBRARY   PQ4315.C4 


The Divine Comedy, tr.  Henry Francis Cary, illustrations by Gustave Dore. (T.Y. Crowell and Co, Boston, 1897) Translation into English.  This is basically the same as above, yet it was larger and in better condition.  There were illustrations just about every other page.  They were engravings, done in much the same manner as paper money is made.  They were all black and white.  Each illustration followed along with the text, and the author included excerpts from the work to explain what was going on.  Gustave Dore included much detail; you can see the cracks and crevices in the stones, the fine musculature of the people, the folds of their clothing.  Each of the engravings is very dark and very emotional.  They are quite powerful and add much in reading the text. 

O'NEILL  PQ4315.C4.1935 


The Divine Comedy, tr.  Lawrence Grant White, illustrations by  Gustave Dore. (Pantheon Books Inc., New York,  1948)  This book was encased in a protective box, for it was old and fragile.  The illustrations are the same engravings done by Gustave Dore in Cary's translation.  The book itself was large with large text and larger illustrations and was rather easy to read.  Under the illustrations were explanations of the happenings of the illustrations.   The illustrations were excellently done. 

 O'NEILL  PQ4315.W5.1948
(also at St. John's) 


 La Divinia Commedia di Dante Alighieri, by John Flaxman. (Florence 1902) In Italian.  It was a rather large book, nearly 1000 pages in length, and the print was fairly small.  It's a commentary on every page of the work.  Each page was just about half text from the work, and the other half was yet smaller print commenting on the text above it.  For experts, I'd say.  There were no illustrations. 

 O'NEILL  PQ.4202.FO7 


Illuminated Manuscripts of the Divine Comedy. (Princeton, 1969; by Peter H. Brieger, Millard Meiss and Charles S. Singleton; Bollingen Series Number LXXXI).  Two volumes: text (I) and plate (II).  Index at end of volume II.  Text and plates are matched in the order of Cantos.  The story of each Canto is well summarized in vol.I so no text is needed to follow along.  Some color illustrations at the end of volume II.  This is a wonderful treasury of Commediana, an education in itself.  It is unfortunate that more color plates could not be included. There is an illuminated MS of the Comedy at Harvard's Houghton Library (from 1481).  In vol. 1, pages 141 -144 are missing and p. 145-148 are duplicated.  You need to use these volumes together. 
 

O'NEILL   PQ.4366.B7 
(currently on reserve shelf)


Illustrations to Dante's Inferno. (Associated University Presses, 1994; by Eugene P. Nassar).  Includes more modem illustrations than the above text but does not substitute for it. 

 O'NEILL  PQ4329.N37.1994 
(currently on reserve shelf)


Images of the Journey in Dante's Divine Comedy.  Charles H. Taylor and Patricia Finley (Yale; 1997).  Features 257 illustrations by 15 known and 20 unknown artists, from the earliest illustrated manuscripts up to the present, with accompanying references for the illustrations.  Most are in color, if the original was in color.  There is an introductory essay, a concluding essay and a bibliography.  Much of this work obviously depended on the two-volume Illustrated Manuscripts of the Divine Comedy by Brieger, Meiss and Singleton, mentioned earlier in this bibliography.  There are 103 pages for the Inferno, 73 for Purgatorio and 84 for Paradiso.  There is a good essay at the end (p. 273-278), "Exile and the Price of Completion." The interpretative essays that accompany the illustrations are along the lines of Jungian psychology and the theme of journey.  The convenient assembly of the illustrations, however, is enough to make this volume well worth consulting. 

O'NEILL LIBRARY PQ 4329.T9.1997 
(currently on reserve shelf)

 

Iconographia Dantesca: The Pictorial Representation of Dante's Divine Comedy.  Ludwig Wolkman (1899). 17 illustrations and bibliography. 

O'NEILL  PQ 4366.V7 
(currently on reserve shelf)


 Photographs from Dore's Dante.  J.W. Black (Boston, 1868). 

 BURNS LIBRARY  PQ 4329.D6.B6 


The Dore illustrations appear with the translation of Henry Francis Cary in a large format first published in 1866.  They are now reprinted by Chartwell Books (1982; 480 pages), along with that translation.  The copies in O'Neill Library are all in the area for oversize books, as follows: 

INFERNO only = PQ 4315.2.C4.1866 (3 copies) 
                             (oversize section) 

and PURGATORIO         = PQ 4315.13.C25 (1883) (5 copies) 
PARADISO            (oversize section) 

A smaller edition of this is in the stacks (the entire Comedy = PQ 4315.C4.1935) and a copy of the Chartwell Books publication is in the Honors Seminar room.  (Gasson 102). 

The Dore illustrations also accompany the translation of Lawrence Grant White in a text published by Pantheon Books in 1948. 

PQ 4315.W5.1948  (3 copies)

 

The illustrations of William Blake appear with a verse translation by Melville Best Anderson (1921), published by Heritage Press in 1944 and republished by Easton Press in 1978.  It is noted that in this edition "32 drawings are printed for the first time."  A copy of this is also in Burns Library. 

PQ4315.A5x.1944 & 1978 (3 copies)
The complete Blake illustrations also appear with a translation of James Cotter, published by Amity House.  They are reduced in size, however, and none in color; many are placed at the end of the book. 
Not in our library. 
There is a nice edition of John Flaxman's engravings accompanying the Alexander Pope translation of Homer's ILIAD, published by Heritage Press in 1943. 
PA 4025.A2P6.1943 


Note on Dante illustrations:

A basic resource for research in this area is the multi-volume GROVE DICTIONARY OF ART, now available on the Boston College Library web-site.  This 34-volume Dictionary contains more than 45,000 articles, 15,000 illustrations, 20,800 biographies of architects, painters, photographers, critics, etc.  Links to relevant articles have been added to all of the original 45,00 articles, making it easy to find additional information and further reading on every subject in the Dictionary.

The web-site version can be reached from the Library homepage (http://www.bc.edu/libraries.html) or from the Bapst Library homepage.  The Bridgeman Art Library, connected with this, gives access to more than 35,000 images and 24,000 external images. 

 A hardcover copy of this THE GROVE DICTIONARY is also available in the Bapst Library.  A brief article on Dante (under "Alighieri," in volume I) lists the more famous illustrators, which you can then go to. 

BAPST REFERENCE 
N31.D5.1996
The Index of Christian Art, the largest archive of medieval art and the most comprehensive database for Christian iconography in the world, is now available to the Boston College community.  The Index was started in 1917 by Prof. Charles Rufus Morley, then Chairman of the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University, and has been growing ever since.  In 1991, the long process of converting the 500,000 cards with their descriptive details and extensive bibliographies and the 200,000 photographic reproductions of Christian art began.  The original card files are housed in McCormick Hall at Princeton University and copies are available at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., the Art Library at UCLA, Utrecht University, Netherlands, and Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome.

Currently, the web version of ICA offers more than 150 searchable categories of information, including 26,000 subject terms which deal with Christian iconography and medieval art.  Over one thousand new entries are added to the archive each year as further progress is being made in electronically indexing the card index.

The Boston College Libraries have just started our subscription to this important scholarly resource.  It is available from campus (or throught a BC remote access account) at http://www.Princeton.edu/~ica/indexca.html or through the Bapst Library Art database site or the Boston College online databases link from the Libraries homepage.
 
 

 On Gustav Dore's illustrations:

His illustrations to the Divine Comedy (he also did the Bible) were begun in 1857 and completed in 1868.  They appear currently in several formats - alone (136 of them) published by Dover in 1976, and with several translations of Dante, such as Cary's translation (published by Chartwell House in 1982; it first appeared with Cary's translation in the 1860s), as well as with Longfellow's translation in 1867, and with others also.  Some of them appear in the book by Taylor and Finley, Images of the Journey in Dante's Divine Comedy, listed in this bibliography.  The Honors Program has a hardcover copy, with the Cary translation, in the Gasson 102 seminar room.  Dore's illustrations of the Bible (241 plates) are available in a Dover press edition of 1974. 
 

For assistance in compiling this section of the bibliography I am indebted to Christian Auty and Arash Hajianpour, both of the Class of 2002. 

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DANTE RESERVE SHELF

The books listed below are on the RESERVE SHELVES in O'Neill Library under this course name and number: Fr. Howard - HP 001. All faculty and students, not just the students registered in HP 001, have access to these reserve books. Since they are on reserve, however, they must be used in the Library.

Dante Books on Reserve Shelf in O’Neill Library
Call NumberAuthorTitleCopies
PQ 4329.N37.1994E.P. NassarIllustrations to Dante’s Inferno1
PQ 4329.T39.1997Finley & TaylorImages of the Journey in Div. Com.1
PQ 4443.L38.1998Mandelbaum, ed.Lectura Dantis – Inferno2
PQ 4331.A36.#6T. Wlassics, ed.Lectura Dantis Virginiana1
PQ 4315.2.M77.v1M. Musa, ed.Inferno (Text & Trans.=v1)2
PQ 4315.2.M77.v2M. Musa, ed.Inferno (Commentary=v2)2
PQ 4315.2.M77.v3M. Musa, ed.Purgatory (Text & Trans.=v3)2
PQ 4315.2.M77.v4M. Musa, ed.Purgatory (Commentary=v4)2
PQ 4302.F72 (1972)Grandgent, ed.La Divina Comedia1
PQ 4464.G7.1975Grandgent, ed.Companion to the Divine Comedy1
PQ 4315.2.M775M. Musa, ed.Inferno (Indiana Critical Edition)1
PQ 4315.D87.1996Durling & MartinezInferno (Text & Commentary)2
PQ 4315.S57 (1980)C.H. Sisson, tr.Divine Comedy (trans. only)1
PQ 4366.B7 (1969)P.H. Brieger, et al.Illuminated MSS of the D.C. (2vols)1


Texts and Commentaries by Charles Singleton in Princeton Bollingen Series:

 

PQ 4302.F77.1977bInferno (Text & Translation=vol 1, part 1)1
PQ 4302.F70 (1970)Inferno (Commentary=vol 1, part 2)2
PQ 4302.F77.1977bPurgatorio (Text & Trans.=vol 2, part 11
PQ 4302.F70 (1973)Purgatorio (Commentary=vol 2, part 2)1
PQ 4302.F77.1977bPurgatorio (Commentary=vol 2, part 2)1
PQ 4302.F70 (1975)Paradiso (Text & Translation=vol 3, part 1)2
PQ 4302.F70 (1975)Paradiso (Commentary=vol 3, part 2)1
PQ 4302.F77.1977bParadiso (Commentary=vol 3, part 2)1
PQ 4315.4.S56.1982Paradiso (vol 3, parts 1 and 2)1

 

Books must be used in the library.  If the date attached to the call number is in parentheses, it means that the date does NOT appear on the call-number label that is attached to the outside of the book.  These dates indicate the actual publication year of that particular volume, whether or not that was also the year of publication of the first edition.  Finally, the six volumes of text, translation and commentary by Singleton are listed all together on a separate page. 
 
 

Call #         Author                 Title                                                                # of copies
 

 PQ 4315.D87                                 DIVINE COMEDY – INFERNO                                1 
 1996                    Dante                       (VOLUME I)   (also an Honors Prog. 
                                                             (tr. R. Durling, notes R. Martinez) copy)(pap) 

 PQ 4443.L38       Mandelbaum   LECTURA DANTIS - INFERNO.                                  1 
 1998 et al, eds.                                         (vol. I)   (also an Honors Prog. 
                                                               (a canto-by-canto commentary)  copy) (pap) 

 PQ 4315.2.M775    Dante          INFERNO (Indiana Critical Edition,                                    1 
 1995                                                      by Mark Musa). English 
                                                                 trans. and some essays. 

 PQ 4315.S57x       Dante                     DIVINE COMEDY (Everyman's Library                  1 
 1995                                                           edition, Mandelbaum translation. 
                                                                      No italian text. Notes at back.) 

 PQ 4331.A36      T. Wlassics,     LECTURA DANTIS VIRGINIANA                              1 
 #6                         editor                                 Spring, '90; #6, supplement 
                                                                                (INFERNO only) 

 PQ 4315.2.M77       Dante            INFERNO (ed. Mark Musa; two vols.)                            2 (+HP
 1996                                                    volume 1 = Italian text & trans. (copy also at St.              office 
                                                              vols. 1 & 2    volume 2 = commentary  John’s Sem.)        copy) 
 

 PQ 4302.F66A         Dante                     HELL; PURGATORY; PARADISE                   2 of each 
(1996)                                                      (3 vols; text & translation) (copy also at St.                  of  3 
                                                                tr=Louis Biancolli; some illustrat. John’s Sem.)               volumes 

 PQ 4302.F72          Dante           LA DIVINA COMEDIA (ed. Grandgent)                         1 
 (1972)                                                            (Italian text; English commentary) 
 

 PQ 4464.G7              Dante           COMPANION TO THE DIVINE COMEDY              1 
 1975                                                              (= the commentary of the Grandgent 
                                                                        edition above; no text) 
 

There is a complete paperback set of the six-volume Singleton series in the Honors Office.  There are also some other Dante commentaries there(such as 2 - volume Musa).  All of these must be used in the office.  A few are on reserve in O'Neill, included in this list. 

                                                    Reserve Shelf - Summary (p.3) 

DANTE

Singleton DANTE Texts and Commentaries on Reserve Shelf:         (Fr.  Howard)=HP 001/003.02.03 

 INFERNO       Text + Translation         PQ 4302.F77.1977b               vol. 1, part 1 
            Commentary (copy 1)          PQ 4302.F70.(1970)                vol. 1, part 2 
            Commentary (copy 2)          PQ 4302.F70.(1970)                vol. 1, part 2 
 

PURGATORIO    Text + Translation        PQ 4302.F77.1977b                vol. 2, part 1 
                Commentary (copy 1)         PQ 4302.F70. (1973)               vol. 2, part 2 
                Commentary (copy 2)         PQ 4302.F77.1977b                 vol. 2, part  2 
 

 PARADISO        Text + Translation          PQ 4302.F70. (1975)            Vol. 3, part 1 (two copies) 
              Commentary (copy 1)            PQ 4302.F70. (1975)             vol. 3, part  2 
              Commentary (copy 2)            PQ 4302.F77.1977b              vol. 3, part  2 
              Text + Trans.+ Commentary  PQ 4315.4.S56.1982             vol 3, parts 1 and 2 (in one 
                                                                                                                                 volume) 

The card catalogue says that O'Neill has 11 volumes in all, and these seem to be represented in the above list on the reserve shelf. 

volume 1, part 2  \ 

     "      3, part 1      \ 
                                                                                                              The reason for the different 
      "     2,  part 2            \                                                                           call numbers, for what is 
                                                                                                                 essentially the same book, is 
       "     1,  part 2                    =PQ 4302.F70 (6 vols.)                          that some volumes were corrected 
                                                                                                                  from the first edition. These 
       "      3,  part 1              /                                                                       will have a later date, with a 
                                                                                                                   small letter 'b' attached. 
        "      3,  part 2        / 

         "    1,  part 1  / 

                                                                                                                   The Singleton commentary 
       "     2, part 1        \                                                                                 is a handsome six-volume 
                                                                                                                  set (3 of text and facing prose 
       "    2,  part 2         = PQ 4302.F77.1977b ( 4 vols.)                         translation, and 3 of commentary) 
                                                                                                                published in the Bollingen series 
      "      3,  part 2         /                                                                               out of Princeton University. 

      "       3, parts 1 + 2 in a single volume = PQ 4315.4.S56.1982 

NOTE: If the date is in parentheses in the call number it means that the date does NOT appear on the outside binding.  The 'F77' means that the volume is a corrected edition from the original edition, but it is still substantially the same volume.  The corrected editions were published in 1977 and have a small 'b' after the date. 

NOTE: In the one-volume edition of the INFERNO by Durling and Martinez (the second entry on the first page), there is a series of additional notes on pages 551-583 that cover cantos,2;11;14-17;19-26;28;30. It is easy to miss those important pages. This book also has fine indexes (p. 611-654) to the INFERNO, the best ones I have seen, as well as a fine introduction (p. 3-24) and maps and drawings scattered throughout.  It also has the Italian text with facing prose translation.  At $13.00 paperback it is a great bargain, nicely printed. 

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RECORDINGS of the DIVINE COMEDY
ON AUDIO-VISUAL RESERVE SHELF

This is a list of those recordings that are presently on reserve in the audio-visual room of O'Neill Library.  They must be used there.  These, as well as other recordings not on reserve or not in the Library, are included earlier in the DANTE BIBLIOGRAPHY on pages 13 and 13a. 

PQ 4302.F61                 This is a set of 12 cassettes of the entire COMEDY, read 
(#1-12)                    in Italian by several persons.  The tapes were made from a 
                                      master set of 18 records donated by Prof.  Joseph Figurito. 
                                      The original boxed set of records is not catalogued but it is available. 
                                      No text is included.  Tape #1 is on reserve, namely  INFERNO
                                      Cantos 1-10, read by Arnaldo Foa et al.  Excellent recording. 

PQ 4315.2l.S29x         INFERNO, Cantos 1-6  Read in English by Ian Richardson, who 
                                     uses the translation of Dorothy Sayers (Penguin). 
                                     On a Caedmon cassette, #CDL 51632.  Text not included. 

PQ 4315.2l.C52         INFERNO, Cantos 1-8.  Read in English by John Ciardi, using 
   (1954)                        his own translation (Mentor books).  This is a Folkways 
                                     Record (not cassette), # FL 9871.  Text is included. 

PQ 4315.2.P472         INFERNO, selections.  Read in English by John Cleese, using 
   1997                           the translation of Robert Pinsky (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1994). 
                                      Two cassettes = three hours total.  There is no text or list of 
                                       passages that are included/omitted in this recording.  Audio 
                                       Literature Tapes, ISBN 1-57453-132-8.  The Honors Program 
                                      also has a copy of this recording. 

PQ 4315.2.P472             INFERNO complete.  Read in English by four poets (Pinsky, Heaney, 
     1998                           Bidart, Gluck), using the Pinsky translation (1994).  There are 
                                        four cassettes = six hours total.  There is no accompanying text. 
                                        Penguin Audiobooks #086738-4.  This recording has the same 
                                         call number as the one above, but the date (1998) is the difference. 
                                         The Honors Program also has a copy of this recording. 

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Other















Dante in America
 
 

Baranski, Zygmunt G.,  "Reflecting on Dante in America: 1949-1990," Annali d'Italianistica 8 (1990): 58-66.  A review of the current status of Dante studies in America. 

DANTE IN AMERICA: A HISTORICAL AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL STUDY. Theodore 
                               W. Koch,  Boston, 1896. 

PQ 4385.U5.K7 
DANTE'S AMERICAN PILGRIMAGE: A HISTORICAL SURVEY OF DANTE STUDIES 
                                  IN THE UNITED STATES, 1800-1944.  Angelina La Piana.  Yale Press, 1948 
PQ   4385.U5L3


DANTE IN AMERICA, ed.  A. Bartlett Giamatti. = volume 23 of MEDIEVAL AND 
                              RENAISSANCE TEXTS AND STUDIES.  New York, 1983.  Essays from/about 
                             22 American Scholars of Dante, from John Chipman Gray (1813) to Robert 
                                  Fitzgerald. Done for the Dante Society of America. 

PQ 4385.U5.D36.1983 
AMERICAN CRITICAL ESSAYS ON THE DIVINE COMEDY.  Ed.  Robert J. Clements. 
                                  NYU, 1967. ,(essays by about 12 scholars) 

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