Dante Alighieri (with commentary by Christophoro Landino)

LA DIVINA COMMEDIA -- INFERNO (Canto XXIII Complete in 5 leaves)

      Florence, Nicholo di Lorenzo (Nicolaus Laurentii, Alamanus), 1481, Florence - Five large folio sheets, in decent collector condition, with complete text of the 23rd Canto of The Inferno. Twelve capital initials nicely rubricated in blue. Beautifully printed with wide margins. A very early example of Dante's classic work. Last two sheets are still joined but all sheets comprising Canto XXIII are present. Printed on good Renaissance paper. Some brown age spotting and staining, including in the inside margin which also shows some soiling on two of the sheets. Still, an overall attractive collection of five incunabula pages forming a complete sub-text. Notes in very old hand, ink turned brown, at bottom of last page. The first Florentine edition of the Comedy appeared 30 August 1481. A product of the cultural circle surrounding Lorenzo (Il Magnifico) de' Medici (1449-1492), this edition was conceived as a polemical work. It was directed towards other Italian centers which had produced editions of the poem, especially those of Venice (1477) and Milan (1478). This monumental book represented the Florentine attempt to reclaim the great poet who, since the 14th century, had become a classic throughout Italy. The text appeared together with a completely new commentary authored by the most authoritative literary critic then teaching in Florence, Cristoforo Landino. Landino's interest for the language of Florence is clear throughout, and independently of Dante, Landino's commentary remains a rich linguistic source in its own right for the Renaissance language of Florence. Moreover, Landino's humanistic commentary distinguishes itself from its predecessors by its appreciation for the variety, vivacity and compelling realism of Dante's style. In this Canto, Dante is saved by Virgil from the demons who pursue them. In the sixth chasm are punished the Hypocrites, who are condemned to pace continually round the gulf under the pressure of cloaks which are gilt without, but lined inside with lead. [Attributes: Soft Cover]