Dante's New Life of the Book

Description

Dante's New Life of the Book examines Dante's Vita nuova through its transformations in manuscripts, printed books, translations, and adaptations. Eisner investigates how these different material manifestations participate in the work, drawing attention to its distinctive elements.

• A fresh interpretation of Dante's first work, based on extensive archival research
• Extensively illustrated, providing an opportunity to experience the work's varied material forms
• Offers a different model for thinking about interactions between literary form and material survival

About the Author(s)

Martin Eisner, Chair of Romance Studies and Professor of Italian, Duke University

Martin Eisner is Professor of Italian and Chair of Romance Studies at Duke University. He is the author of Boccaccio and the Invention of Italian Literature (Cambridge, 2013) and Boccaccio: A Life in Books (Reaktion Books, forthcoming).

Table of Contents

Prologue: A Philology of World Literature
Part One: Interpreting Beatrice
1:The Encounter (Postcard)
2:The Dream (Film)
3:The Crisis (Musical Staves)
Part Two: Glossing Beatrice
4:The Mouth (Marginal Gloss)
5:The New Homer (Ultraviolet Colophon)
6:The Interruption (Picture Frame)
Part Three: Remembering Beatrice
7:The Painting (Composition)
8:The Other Woman (Collation)
9:The Veronica (Tipped-in)

Reviews

"Ultimately, the book is both a useful summary of the most important critical problems linked to the Vita nuova and an overview of the different interpretative positions that they pose. Moreover, it is an interesting application of a working method which, although philologically correct, can be called "comparative" at all levels, and which has the merit of overturning the common expository approach by starting with the legacy of the text to reveal new meanings in the "original."" - Andrea Quaini, French & Italian, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Comitatus

"Dante's New Life of the Book will be interesting not only for Dante scholars but also for anyone interested in intersections between form, literary history, and material textuality. Every chapter contains intriguing instances of the transmission of Dante's text, insightful readings of Vita nuova, and new ways of understanding the point of contact between the two. Dante's New Life of the Book is thus a valuable addition to the life that it commemorates." - Kara Gaston, University of Toronto, Speculum

"Dante's New Life of the Book also charts stimulating pedagogical directions, as it shows that the timelessness of Dante's many contributions to world literature depends on the intrinsic tensions, contradictions, and innovations that are the trademark of his literary experimentation and cultural restlessness." - Filippo Gianferrari, UC Santa Cruz, Modern Philology

"As the Veronica is for Christ, the Vita Nuova is a substitute for Beatrice's presence that can be circulated amongst the faithful." - Stefano Milonia, Medium AEvum