Danthe - Comedia - 1536

Comedy of the Divine Poet Dante – The Venetian Edition by Giovanni Giolitto da Trino (1536)
This edition of the Comedy of the divine poet Dante Alighieri, printed in Venice in 1536 by Gioanni Giolitto da Trino, represents one of the most significant testimonies of Dantean typographic reception in the first half of the 16th century. The frontispiece, adorned with the woodcut portrait of Dante, announces the addition of a 'very copious table' not previously printed, intended to facilitate the consultation of the poem with an index of entries, sayings, and notable passages. The work is situated at a time when the poem was being disseminated within a broader cultural circuit, with both literary and educational purposes: the Dantean tradition, already rooted thanks to Landino's commentary, was enriched by new apparatuses and indices that made it more accessible to students and learned readers.
Market value
Editions of the Commedia prior to the mid-16th century are particularly rare and highly valued in the antiquarian market. A complete copy from 1536 in good condition can be valued between 8,000 and 15,000 euros, with pristine copies and intact frontispieces potentially fetching higher prices at international auctions. Interest is heightened by the fact that this is a less common edition compared to the broader production of the Giolito editions that followed.

Physical description and condition
Next binding in parchment with raised bands and handwritten title. Frontispiece with a woodcut portrait of Dante. Text in two columns in clear type. Pages uniformly browned but solid, frontispiece intact with clearly legible woodcut. Pp. (6); 58nn; 441; (6).

Full title and author
Comedy of the divine poet Dante Alighieri.
Venetia, by Gioanni Giolitto from Trino, 1536.
Dante Alighieri

Context and Significance
The 1536 edition is part of that typographic era which, in Renaissance Venice, established Dante as an indispensable author of the Italian literary canon. The presence of the table demonstrates the growing need for a 'consultable' Dante, not only as poetic and theological reading but also as a linguistic, moral, and philosophical repertoire. Giolitto da Trino, less well-known than his brother Gabriele, helped spread Dante in a curated and innovative editorial form, paving the way for his enduring influence in subsequent generations.

Biography of the Author
Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), Florentine poet and intellectual, composed the Divine Comedy between 1304 and 1321. This monumental work, divided into Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, combines religious vision with political engagement, using a language that laid the foundations of literary Italian. Considered the father of the Italian language, Dante has had an uninterrupted reception from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Printing history and circulation
After the fifteenth-century editions (Foligno 1472, Venice 1477), the Comedy was regularly reprinted by Venetian printing houses. The edition by Gioanni Giolitto da Trino from 1536 predates the more famous series by Gabriele Giolito and represents a key piece in the transmission of Dante's work. Print runs were limited and aimed at a select audience of educated readers, with purposes both of study and moral reading. The survival of complete copies today is rare and valuable.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Mambelli, The annals of Dante editions
Adams, Catalogue of Books Printed on the Continent of Europe, 1501–1600
EDIT16 (census of Italian editions of the 16th century)
WorldCat, BnF, ICCU (cataloged copies of the Giolitto da Trino edition 1536)