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  DANTE ALIGHIERI

  His Life and Works

  BRONZE BUST OF DANTE

  In the possession of Whitworth Wallis, Esq., Birmingham

  DANTE ALIGHIERI

  His Life and Works

  Paget Toynbee

  Introduction by

  Robert Hollander

  Dover Publications, Inc.

  Mineola, New York

  Copyright

  Introduction copyright © 2005 by Robert Hollander

  All rights reserved.

  Bibliographical Note

  This Dover edition, first published in 2005, is an augmented republication of the 1910 “Revised and Considerably Enlarged” fourth edition of the work originally published by Methuen & Co. Ltd., London, in 1900. Robert Hollander has written a new Introduction specially for the Dover edition.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Toynbee, Paget Jackson, 1855–1932.

  Dante Alighieri : his life and works / Paget Toynbee ; introduction by Robert Hollander.

  p. cm.

  Originally published: London : Methuen, 1900.

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  eISBN 13: 978-0-4861-46423

  1. Dante Alighieri, 1265–1321. 2. Authors, Italian–To 1500– Biography I. Title.

  PQ 4335.T7 2005

  851'.1– dc22

  [B]

  2005045176

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y. 11501

  INTRODUCTION TO THE DOVER EDITION

  Robert Hollander

  IN the first twenty years of the last century, Paget Jackson Toynbee (1855–1932) made a lasting mark on Dante studies. (His main contributions will be mentioned below.) This book, published as a short monograph in 1899 (with less detailed descriptions of the works being the most notable difference with respect to the present volume), was much revised in the fourth edition of 1910 (the third edition had already been paid the rare–at that time–compliment, for a book about Dante, of an Italian translation).

  What distinguishes Toynbee’s work is its meticulous attention to detail, bringing a gift for clear-headed analysis into play in an attempt to get the life and works “right,” since both are surrounded by uncertainty that results from the near-total absence of any corroborating record for the “facts” about Dante and his work that have come down to us. It is also distinguished by a judicious turn of mind in dealing with most of these thorny problems (some nearly inevitable, given that uncertainty).

  We want to remember (as Toynbee himself demonstrates in his later volume Dante in English Literature) that, until the Romantic era, with the imposing exception of Chaucer, rarely were English poets excited to the level of imitation by Dante’s great poem, as were, to name but two, Byron and Shelley. Thus Toynbee’s enthusiasm is part of a second British “Dante moment,” this one centered in Oxford (where both he and Edward Moore taught) and involving literary critics more than poets. The most important of these figures was the first of them, Moore (1835–1916), one of the great textual editors of the Comedy, his work used and admired even by Italian scholars, who did not hesitate to employ the texts that he edited as the new standard. In addition, and among his other contributions, were his “Studies in Dante,” collected in four volumes, useful even today. A great scholar himself, Toynbee, who collaborated with Moore on the collection of Dante’s works known as “The Oxford Dante” (1924), frequently acknowledges his debt to Moore in the footnotes at the bottom of these pages. Another brilliant Dantean presence on the scene was that of Philip Wicksteed (1844–1927), a clergyman, a prolific student of economics, and a man who raised an amateur’s interest in the Italian poet to the highest levels of scholarship, as is evident, for instance, in his Dante and Aquinas (1913). A sometime collaborator of Wicksteed was the much younger Edmund Gardner (1869–1935), whose two important book-length contributions are Dante’s Ten Heavens (1898) and Dante and the Mystics (1913). These four men were the flower of this period in English Dante studies, but several other scholars also contributed to making this time extraordinary for Dante studies in Great Britain.

  Toynbee’s own other major contributions include A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante (1898; second edition, Charles Singleton, 1968); Dante in English Literature from Chaucer to Cary (1909), an effort to gather every instance of the occurrence of references to Dante in English literature up to 1840; important articles collected in Dante Studies and Researches (1902) and Dante Studies (1921); and at that point the best critical edition of Dante’s letters (1920). It is a record of accomplishment in Dante studies that is difficult to match.

  This particular book was the first of its kind and obviously filled a need; it is a concise, straightforward presentation of Dante’s life and works written for the general reader but useful for the specialist as well. One is impressed, reading through it, at how it has not become dated in a field of study in which the essential bibliography changes in major respects every quarter century. Only one present issue concerning the Dantean canon is not broached here, the question of the attribution of Il fiore and Il Detto d’amore, a question that divides its contemporary students but was not even an issue in Toynbee’s day; indeed, the first editions of Dante’s complete works containing these two extended poetic exercises saw the light of day only after the First World War. Toynbee’s judgments hold up remarkably well, even his hedging on the date of composition of the Monarchia (while leaving the question open, he decidedly prefers a date sometime between 1310 and 1313, while most contemporary students of the problem, after Pier Giorgio Ricci’s intervention in his edition [1965], date it later, and no earlier than 1317). A century and more after he decided to dedicate himself to this task, forty years after Charles Singleton republished the then out-of-print text (1965), this book remains one of the best guides to someone trying to find an orientation in the world that Dante manufactured.

  Hopewell, New Jersey

  31 December 2004

  PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION

  THIS little book lays no claim to originality, and makes no pretence to learning or research. It is addressed rather to the so-called general reader than to the serious Dante student. The narrative is taken largely from the pages of Villani, Boccaccio, and from other similar sources. The reader will find fiction (at any rate from the critic’s point of view) as well as fact in these pages, but he will, I hope, be at no loss to distinguish between the two. The legends and traditions which hang around the name of a great personality are a not unimportant element in his biography, and may sometimes serve to place him as well as, if not better than, the more sober estimates of the serious historian. I have not, therefore, thought it outside the scope of this sketch of Dante’s life to include some of the anecdotes which at an early date began to be associated with his name, though certain of them demonstrably belong to a far earlier period.

  Again, when a thing has been well said by a previous writer, I have been content to let him speak, instead of saying the same thing less well in my own words.

  The translations for the most part are my own. I have, however, been indebted for an occasional turn or phrase to Selfe and Wicksteed’s Selections from Villani, and to the latter’s versions of the Early Lives of Dante.

  The illustrations are reproduced, by permission, from photographs by Messrs. Alinari and Messrs. Brogi of Florence.

  May, 1900

  PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION

  A FOURTH edition of this book (the third edition of which has lately been translated into Italian by Professor Balsamo-Crivelli, of Turin) having been called for, I have, at the suggestion of the publishers, availed myself of the oppor
tunity to make considerable additions to it (as well as to rectify sundry mistakes and omissions), which will, I trust, increase its value to students, without at the same time diminishing its interest for the general reader.

  The present edition differs from its predecessors chiefly in respect of the much fuller treatment (in Part V) of Dante’s works, of which brief analyses have now been supplied, together with information as to MSS. and critical editions, and, in the case of the Divina Commedia commentaries, as well as data, of special interest to the English reader, as to the various editions and translations of each work published in this country. Many additional details will also be found in some of the other sections, especially in the more strictly biographical portions of the work.

  Further, in the present edition I have made a point of supplying copious references to authorities (generally at the foot of the page), which will serve at once as an acknowledgment of my own obligations, and as a means whereby the reader may, if desired, check the information furnished in the text.

  The bibliographical and biographical notes in the original Appendix have been considerably amplified, and four Appendices have been added. The first of these consists of a Genealogical Table of the family of Dante, with references to Dante’s own allusions to members of his family. The others contain respectively, a translation of the letter of Frate Ilario to Uguccione della Faggiuola, to which renewed attention has been directed of late; extracts from some interesting letters of Seymour Kirkup to Gabriele Rossetti concerning the discovery of the Giotto portrait of Dante in the Bargello, and Kirkup’s drawing from it (further information about which, supplied by Kirkup himself to the late owner of the original sketch, will be found in the body of the book); and, lastly, a Chronological List of early (cent. xiv-xvi) commentaries on the Divina Commedia.

  The index, which of necessity has been entirely recast, has been made as full as possible in order to render the varied contents of the book easily accessible to the student for purposes of reference, and dates have been inserted as a convenient means of “orientation”.

  Sundry illustrations have been added, among them one of a fine bronze bust of Dante (supposed to be the work of a French artist at the beginning of the seventeenth century) in the possession of Mr. Whitworth Wallis, Director of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, who kindly supplied a photograph (hitherto unpublished) for the purpose of reproduction in this book.

  PAGET TOYNBEE

  20 January, 1910

  (the 590th anniversary of the disputation “De Aqua et Terra” at Verona)

  In the numbering of the poems in the Canzoniere, and the line references in the prose works, the arrangement of the Oxford Dante has been followed.

  “Se Dio ti lasci, Lettor, prender frutto Di tua lezion.”

  Inf. xx. 19

  CONTENTS

  PART I

  GUELFS AND GHIBELLINES

  CHAPTER I (1215-1250)

  Origin of the names—Distinguishing principles of the two parties in Italy—Introduction of the parties into Florence—The Ghibellines with the aid of Frederick II expel the Guelfs from Florence—Return of the Guelfs after the Emperor’s death, and pacification between the two parties

  CHAPTER II (1251-1260)

  Renewed hostilities—Adoption of distinctive banners by the two parties in Florence—The Ghibellines intrigue with Manfred and are forced to leave Florence—They retire to Siena and persuade Manfred to send them help—Great Ghibelline victory at Montaperti

  CHAPTER III (1261-1267)

  Flight of the Guelfs from Florence—Farinata degli Uberti saves Florence from destruction—The Ghibellines supreme in Tuscany—Defeat of Manfred at Benevento by Charles of Anjou—Flight of Guido Novello and the Ghibelline allies from Florence—Guy de Montfort arrives in Florence as Charles’s vicar—Guelf supremacy finally re-established

  PART II

  DANTE IN FLORENCE

  CHAPTER I (1265-1290)

  Dante’s birth and ancestry—His father and mother—Cacciaguida—Geri del Bello—Beatrice Portinari—Episodes in the Vita Nuova—Folco Portinari—Death of Beatrice—Poetical correspondence with Cino da Pistoja, Guido Cavalcanti, and Forese Donati

  CHAPTER II (1289-1290)

  Military service—War with Arezzo—Battle of Campaldino—Victory of Florentine Guelfs—Buonconte da Montefeltro—Siege of Caprona—“Quomodo sedet sola civitas!”

  CHAPTER III (1291-1300)

  Early studies—Brunetto Latino—Classical acquirements—Marriage—Gemma Donati—Children—-Public life—Embassy to San Gemignano—Priorate

  CHAPTER IV (1300-1302)

  Blacks and Whites in Pistoja—In Florence—Cerchi and Donati May Day, 1300—Dante in office—Embassy to Rome—Charles of Valois in Florence—Triumph of the Blacks—Condemnation and exile of Dante—His possessions and debts

  PART III

  DANTE IN EXILE

  CHAPTER I (1302-1321)

  Wanderings—Dante’s fellow-exiles—Henry VII in Italy—His death—Fresh sentence against Dante—His retirement to Ravenna—Alleged visits to Mantua, Verona, and Piacenza—Reputed a sorcerer—Death and burial—His tomb and epitaphs—Elegies

  CHAPTER II

  Boccaccio’s rebuke to the Florentines—Efforts of Florence to get possession of Dante’s remains—Leo X grants permission for their removal—Disappearance of the remains—Their accidental discovery during the commemoration of the sixth centenary of Dante’s birth- Public exhibition of them at Ravenna, and subsequent re-interment

  PART IV

  CHARACTERISTICS OF DANTE

  CHAPTER I

  Boccaccio’s account of Dante’s person and character—His love of fame—His failings—Account of him by his contemporary, Giovanni Villani

  CHAPTER II

  Portraits of Dante—The Giotto portrait in the Bargello—Norton’s account of the Bargello portrait—Its disappearance and re-discovery—The death-mask—Its relation to the portrait—The Naples Bronze—Portrait by Taddeo Gaddi—The Riccardi portrait—The picture by Domenico di Michelino

  CHAPTER III

  Anecdotes of Dante—Dante and Can Grande della Scala—Belacqua and Dante—Sacchetti’s stories—Dante and the blacksmith—Dante and the donkey-driver—Dante’s creed—Dante and King Robert of Naples—Dante’s reply to the bore—Dante and the Doge of Venice—Dante a kleptomaniac—Dante and Cecco d’ Ascoli

  PART V

  DANTE’S WORKS

  CHAPTER I

  Italian Works—Lyrical Poems—The Vita Nuova—The Convivio

  CHAPTER II

  The Divina Commedia—Its origin, subject, and aim—Date of composition—Scheme of the poem—Boccaccio’s story of the lost cantos—Why it was written in Italian—Dante and his rhymes—Manuscripts and printed editions—English editions and translations—Commentaries

  CHAPTER III

  Latin Works—The De Monarchia—The De Vulgari Eloquentia—The Letters—The Eclogues—The Quaestio de Aqua et Terra—Apocryphal Works

  Appendix A—Genealogical Table of the Family of Dante

  Appendix B—Letter of Frate Ilario to Uguccione della Faggiuola

  Appendix C—Extracts from letters from Seymour Kirkup to Gabriele Rossetti concerning the discovery of the Giotto portrait of Dante in the Bargello, and Kirkup’s drawing from it

  Appendix D—Chronological List of early (cent. xiv-xvi) commentaries on the Divina Commedia, with titles of printed editions

  Appendix E—Bibliographical Note of the Earliest Biographies and Biographical Notices of Dante

  Index

  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

  1. Bronze bust of Dante

  2. Florence and the Arno

  3. The city of Florence

  4. Farinata degli Uberti (from the painting by Andrea del Castagno, in the Museo Nazionale at Florence)

  5. Dante’s house in Florence

  6. The Baptistery of San Giovanni at Florence

  7. San Gemignano

  8. Cast of Dante’s
face taken after death

  9. Dante’s tomb at Ravenna

  10. Chest in which Dante’s remains were found at Ravenna in 1865

  11. Portrait of Dante (from Codex 1040 in the Riccardi Library at Florence)

  12. Portrait of Dante by Giotto in the Bargello at Florence (from a drawing by Seymour Kirkup)

  13. Mask of Dante in the Uffizi at Florence (formerly in the possession of the Marchese Torrigiani)

  14. Bronze bust of Dante at Naples

  15. Dante and his book (from the picture by Domenico di Michelino, in the Duomo at Florence)

  16. Dante Alighieri (from the painting by Andrea del Castagno, in the Museo Nazionale at Florence)

  Thou know’st perchance how Phoebus’ self did guide

  Our Tuscan DANTE up the lofty side

  Of snow-clad Cyrrha; how our Poet won

  Parnassus’ peak, and founts of Helicon;

  How with Apollo, ranging wide, he sped

  Through Nature’s whole domain, and visited

  Imperial Rome, and Paris, and so passed

  O’er seas to BRITAIN’S distant shores at last.

  (Boccaccio to Petrarch)

  “the gretë poete of

  Ytaille That highte Dant.”

  CHAUCER, Monk’s Tale

  DANTE ALIGHIERI

  His Life and Works

  FLORENCE AND THE ARNO

  PART I

  GUELFS AND GHIBELLINES

  CHAPTER I

  1215–1250

  Origin of the names—Distinguishing principles of the two parties in Italy—Introduction of the parties into Florence—The Ghibellines with the aid of Frederick II expel the Guelfs from Florence—Return of the Guelfs after the Emperor’s death, and pacification between the two parties.

  NORTHERN ITALY in the middle of the thirteenth century, at the time of Dante’s birth,1 was divided into two great political parties, of which the one, known by the name of Guelfs, looked to the Pope as their head, while the others, the Ghibellines, looked to the Emperor. The distinctive titles of these two parties were of German origin, being merely Italianized forms (Guelfo and Ghibellino) of the two German names Welf and Weiblingen. The former of these was the name of an illustrious family, several members of which had successively been Dukes of Bavaria in the tenth and eleventh centuries. The heiress of the last of these intermarried with a younger son of the house of Este; and from them sprang a second line of Guelfs, from whom the royal house of Brunswick is descended.