Dante Alighieri - La Divina Commedia - 1890

Dante Alighieri The Divine Comedy Illustrated by Gustave Doré with the introduction and commentary by Eugenio Camerini.

This is a rare antique edition from the well-known Italian publisher Sonzogno (Milan), printed around 1890-1900.

Beautiful copy! Sturdy binding of leather over wooden boards. With metal fittings. Closures missing. Binding impeccable. Content complete and in excellent condition! Packed with illustrations by master illustrator Gustave Doré throughout the entire book.

A real collectors-item!

Number of pages: 1044 (illustrations not counted)

Dimensions: 12.6 x 9.0 x 5.0 cm

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The Divine Comedy (La Divina Commedia) is an allegorical epic poem by the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri, written in the first quarter of the 14th century (ca. 1307-1321), while he was in exile from the Florentine Republic. It belongs to the recognized masterpieces of world literature and to the greatest cultural achievements of the Middle Ages.

The Divina Commedia, completed shortly before Dante's death in 1321, concerns an imaginary journey of Dante Alighieri. This journey consists of the descent into Hell, Inferno, the ascent of the Mount of Purgation, Purgatorio, and finally the contemplation of the Divine light in Paradise, Paradiso.

Along the way he encounters many famous characters. With this journey Dante aims to indicate which path the human spirit must take to free itself from sin and to reach the bliss of Paradise.

Dante shows the state of the mind after death, and that depends on how one has lived. Dante describes in very vivid terms the punishments and rewards allocated in the hereafter.

Mathematical structure
The work of Dante Alighieri is known for its mathematical structure. Dante made use of, in particular, the number 3 (symbol for the Holy Trinity) and 100 (symbol for perfection). These sacred numbers are found in the structure or almost architectural design of the poem.

* The Divine Comedy consists of 3 Cantiche each with 33 Cantos, plus 1 Canto for the introduction, for a total of 100 Cantos.
* Each Canto consists of 1000 words, 33,000 words per Cantica, in total 100,000 words.
* Each Canto is built up of a 3-line verse form, the terza rima, with a chain rhyme repeated three times.
* Each terzina is composed of 33 syllables.
* Also in content the number 3 is used. The sins come in 3 categories, there are 3 cleansing levels.
* Hell consists of 9 circles plus 1 ante-hell, Paradise consists of 9 spheres and 1 empyrean.