The Early Printed Illustrations of Dante's Commedia - (William and Katherine Devers Dante and Medieval Italian Literature) by Matthew Collins

Book Synopsis

The Early Printed Illustrations of Dante's "Commedia" provides the first systematic overview of the earliest illustrated editions of Dante's poem, stretching from 1481 through 1596, and features over 230 illustrations.

Developing a series of interdisciplinary methods for studying early printed book illustrations, Matthew Collins explores the visual sources for the first illustrated editions of the Commedia, their narrative qualities, and their influence on Renaissance readers. He traces the visual genealogies that link these images to each other and to renderings of the poem in other media, including illuminated manuscripts and drawings, such as those by Sandro Botticelli. Collins additionally delves into a group of cartographically oriented renderings of Dante's afterlife, interpreting them in the context of the Age of Exploration. He addresses the utilitarian aspect of the illustrations as well by revealing the multidimensional role that these images played for Renaissance readers, particularly emphasizing their pedagogical and mnemonic uses.

Of value to numerous disciplines, The Early Printed Illustrations of Dante's "Commedia" fills a gap in Dante studies and will inspire similar investigations into the visual representation of other literary works in the age of early print.

Review Quotes

"Elegantly written and rigorously researched, Matthew Collins's The Early Printed Illustrations of Dante's "Commedia" provides us with both a wealth of new analyses and a set of new approaches to what it means to illustrate and visualize Dante's poem in print, and all the complex and multifaceted relations between word and image this involved. The book will be of immense value not only to all students of Dante and his reception, but also to cultural, literary and art historians, and to all those working on print and visual culture." --Simon Gilson, author of Medieval Optics and Theories of Light in the Works of Dante

"Having already set new standards in visual Dante studies with his innovative editorial project Reading Dante with Images, Matthew Collins integrates visual sources such as the Morgan drawings and the Marcolini Dante into histories of production, perception, and interpretation. His enlightening and engaging book will lead readers into the sibling disciplines of art and literature, print and poetry, Italian and Dante studies, and, not least, into a fresh approach to the history of technology." --Henrike Christiane Lange, author of Giotto's Arena Chapel and the Triumph of Humility

"The Early Printed Illustrations of Dante's 'Commedia' seamlessly weaves together art history, book history, and literary history in a fascinating exploration of these illustrations, revealing profound connections between art, literature, and history." --Rhoda Eitel-Porter, co-author of Italian Renaissance Drawings at the Morgan Library & Museum

About the Author

Matthew Collins holds a PhD from Harvard University in Romance languages and literatures, a JD from NYU Law, and an MA in the history of art and architecture from NYU's Institute of Fine Arts. He is the founding series editor of Reading Dante with Images.