The Divine Comedy, Paradiso. Part 1. Text (v. 3) [Paperback]

Dante (Author), Charles S. Singleton (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 1991

Continuing the paperback edition of Charles S. Singleton's translation of The Divine Comedy, this work provides the English-speaking reader with everything he needs to read and understand the Paradiso. This volume consists of the prose translation of Giorgio Petrocchi's Italian text (which faces the translation on each page); its companion volume of commentary is a masterpiece of erudition, offering a wide range of information on such subjects as Dante's vocabulary, his characters, and the historical sources of incidents in the poem. Professor Singleton provides a clear and profound analysis of the poem's basic allegory, and the illustrations, diagrams, and map clarify points that have previously confused readers of The Divine Comedy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

With the publication of Singleton's edition of The Divine Comedy, we have in English . . . A truly scholarly edition which can at last vie with ones in Italian and German. . . . This monumental work will be indispensable for all lovers of this masterpiece who wish to root it in its linguistic, historical and social reality. -- Speculum

Product Details

• Paperback: 389 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (August 12, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691019126
• ISBN-13: 978-0691019123
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #473,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dante Alighieri was born in 1265 in Florence. His family, of minor nobility, was not wealthy nor especially distinguished; his mother died when he was a child, his father before 1283. At about the age of 20 he married Gemma Donati, by whom he had three children. Little is known of Dante's formal education-it is likely to have included study with the Dominicans, the Augustinians, and the Franciscans in Florence, and at the university in Bologna. In 1295 he entered Florentine politics and in the summer of 1300 he became one of the six governing Priors of Florence. In 1301, the political situation forced Dante and his party into exile. For the rest of his life he wandered through Italy, perhaps studied at Paris, while depending for refuge on the generosity of various nobles. He continued to write and at some point late in life he took asylum in Ravenna where he completed the Divine Commedia and died, much honoured, in 1321.