Of the different editions and translations of The Comedy, as well as of the ancient and modern commentaries on the same, some account will be found in Part II, Chap. I. Here let us reproduce a few sentences from Ferrari's Corso sugli Scrittori politici Italiani: "The Divine Epopœa is so associated with the periodical changes of the nation that, like the sun and moon, it undergoes eclipse, reappearing with greater splendor at determinate intervals. In the fifteenth century it disappears; the chairs, founded by the different governments to expound it, are suppressed; for a long time it is forgotten. Then, all at once, amid the lightnings of St. Bartholomew's Eve, at the moment when the great Catholic and Protestant revolutions break out, a noisy polemic, stirred up by Varchi, brings it again upon the scene, and arouses thought on the massacres of the Church and tyrannies of the Empire. A new eclipse follows this outbreak; but very soon Vico, preceded by Gravina, finds that he cannot write a commentary upon the revolutions of right, without placing Dante beside Homer, among the primitive bards whose second sight foreshadows the whole history of the nation to which they belong. “Later still, another eclipse cuts off the light of The Divine Comedy. Bettinelli derides it, Voltaire despises it, an ironical age consigns it to the lumber-room of old Latin heirlooms, and Virgil, like a free-and-easy journalist, marvels that he has made so long a journey among Christian fables. But, since the beginning of our century, which is the century of revolutions, the century which throws doubt upon both Pope and Emperor, the century which began by proclaiming the worship of Reason, and means to end with the renovation of the world (I mean the century beginning with 1786), Monti, Foscolo, Perticari, and all the celebrities of Italy have vied with each other in eagerness to exalt The Divine Comedy, have grown enthusiastic over this primitive monument of our Right, of which no ex pression ever seemed more practical or more recent, because no generation was ever nearer denying the principle of it. In such manner do the masterpieces of the human spirit grow in beauty. Beliefs perish, leaving for admiration the splendor of their past embodiment. The Goddess is no longer adored; but the incomparable statue inspired by her,—none can sculpture it as Pheidias did, and Pheidias himself becomes a god." [The following is a brief chronology of the more important events that happened during the third period of Dante's life : 1314. Lucca taken by Uguccione della Faggiuola. - Death of Clement V. Death of Philip the Fair (Hell, XIX, 83 sqq.). Battle of Morgarten. - Battle of Bannockburn. — Birth of Boccaccio. 1315. Defeat of the Florentines, at Montecatini, by Uguccione. - Dissection first taught at Bologna. - Death of Raymond Lull. Rise of the Lollards. 1316. Uguccione expelled from Lucca and Pisa.- John XXII Pope. University of Ferrara founded. - Death of Pietro d' Abano.- Death of Louis X.- Florentine exiles allowed to return on humiliating terms. 1317. Robert of Naples senator of Rome.- Pope imposes taxes on all countries. - Rinaldo Obizzo III and Niccolò I lords of Ferrara. — The "Extravagantes Joannis" published. 1318. Robert of Naples lord of Genoa. - Many Franciscans join the Beghards (Parad., XII, 106 sqq.).—Order of St. George introduced. King of Hungary marries Beatrice, daughter of Henry VII. - French Franciscans persecuted. 1319. Rise the White Friars. — Oligarchy in Venice. 1320. New Crusade of the Pastoreaux. Pisa. 1321. Persecution of leners in France.] Death of John of CHAPTER I. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL. A. THE DIVINE COMEDY. § 1. MANUSCRIPTS. The various readings in the For text of The Divine Comedy are without number, and hundreds of them are subjects of controversy. this reason, criticism is obliged to go back to as near the primitive sources as possible, in order to fix the genuine text of the poem as it was left by its author. The most pure and primitive source, which, if we could find it, would save us the trouble of having recourse to secondary sources, would be Dante's own autograph. Unfortunately, that autograph has not for centuries been known to exist, being perhaps destroyed by time, and perhaps hidden away in some corner of the earth; nay, we do not know that there exists a single word written by the hand that wrote the Sacred Poem. Hence, we must turn to manuscript copies. These will, of course, be more likely to offer a genuine text, the older they are, and the more nearly they approach the time of Dante. But, since the number of manuscripts at present known is over 500, to record all the various readings of them would not only be a Herculean |