tage of the expert criticism in the pages of the Bullettino della Società Dantesca Italiana 1 of the editor, Professor E. G. Parodi, and latterly of Professor E. Pistelli,2 from which I have derived much encouragement and no little positive assistance, both in the way of correction and of suggestion, assistance of which I have availed myself in the present work, and for which I take this opportunity of expressing my grateful acknowledgements. to the Princes and Peoples of Italy' (vol. vii, pp. 208-24. April, 1912). 3. 'The Venetian Text (Cod. Marc. Lat. xv. 115) of Dante's Letter to the Emperor Henry VII' (vol. vii, pp. 433-40. Oct. 1912). 4. 'The San Pantaleo Italian Translation of Dante's Letter to the Emperor Henry VII' (vol. ix, pp. 332-43. July, 1914). 5. Dante's Letter to the Emperor Henry VII: Critical Text' (vol. x, pp. 64– 72. Jan. 1915). 6. 'Dante's Letter to the Princes and Peoples of Italy: Critical Text' (vol. x, pp. 150-6. April, 1915). 7. "The Laurentian Text (Cod. Laurent. xxix. 8) of Dante's Letter to a Friend in Florence: With Emended Text and Translation' (vol. xi, pp. 61-8. Jan. 1916). 8. 'The Laurentian Text (Cod. Laurent. xxix. 8) of Dante's Letter to a Pistojan Exile: With Emended Text and Translation' (vol. xii, pp. 37–44, 359-60. Jan., July, 1917). 9. 'Dante's Letter to the Florentines: Emended Text and Translation' (vol. xii, pp. 182-91. April, 1917). 10. 'The Battifolle Letters attributed to Dante: Emended Text and Translation' (vol. xii, pp. 302–9. July, 1917). 11. 'The Laurentian Text (Cod. Laurent. xxix. 8) of Dante's Letter to the Italian Cardinals: With Emended Text and Translation' (vol. xiii, pp. 208-27. April, 1918). 12. Dante's Letter to Can Grande (Epist. x): Emended Text' (vol. xiv, pp. 278-302. July, 1919). 1 Articles by Professor Parodi were published in the Bullettino for Dec. 1912 (N.S. vol. xix, pp. 249-75) and Sept.-Dec. 1915 (N.S. ́ vol. xxii, pp. 137-44); and by Professor Pistelli in the Bullettino for March-June-Sept. 1917 (N.S. vol. xxiv, pp. 58-61, 61-5). 2 To Professor Pistelli has been entrusted, since the lamented death of Professor Francesco Novati, the task of preparing the critical edition of the Epistolae for the Società Dantesca Italiana. It has not been thought necessary to reprint here the diplomatic transcripts of the MS. texts, nor the collations of the printed editions of the Epistolae in the above-mentioned articles in the Modern Language Review. The present text is provided with an apparatus criticus in which are registered the divergences of this text from the readings of the MSS., and from those of the text of the Oxford Dante (as representing the 'standard' printed text). Prefixed to each letter is a brief account of the MSS. in which it has been preserved, and of the printed editions and translations, together with discussions of the authenticity and date, and à summary of contents. Each letter is accompanied by notes, and by an English translation.' In illustration of the historical allusions a Chronological Table, from the date of Dante's Priorate (1300) to that of his death (1321), is provided in the Appendices; in which will also be found an article on 'Dante and the Cursus', containing an examination of Dante's Latin (prose) works in general, and of the Epistolae in particular, from the point of view of the cursus." 1 I have availed myself, with due acknowledgement, of the notes of previous editors. In my translation I have borrowed an occasional word or term from the renderings of Latham (in his Translation of Dante's Eleven Letters, Boston, U.S.A., 1891) and of Wicksteed (in Translation of the Latin Works of Dante Alighieri, London, 1904); and I have consulted on occasion the Italian version of Fraticelli (printed in his edition of the Opere Minori di Dante Alighieri, Firenze, 1857), and the German of Kannegiesser (in Dante Alighieri's prosaische Schriften mit Ausnahme der Vita Nuova, Leipzig, 1845). The Battifolle letters are now translated into English for the first time. 2 See Appendix B. 3 See Appendix C. No attempt has been made in the present text of the Epistolae to reproduce the mediaeval Latin spelling, which is 'modernized' in conformity with the practice observed in the Oxford Dante. Mediaeval forms of words, on the other hand, are scrupulously preserved, such forms on occasion being essential to the maintenance of the cursus.1 A full index is provided, in four sections, namely, an Index Nominum, comprising the names of persons and places mentioned in the Epistolae; an Index Verborum, a list of words, or examples of words, not registered in the American Dante Society's Concordance to the Latin Works of Dante, which occur in the present texts; an Index of Quotations, consisting of references to passages quoted, directly or indirectly, by Dante, from classical and other authors, and from Scripture; and lastly, a Bibliographical and General Index, covering the Introduction (which comprises a history of the Epistolae from the fourteenth century to the present day), Notes, and Appendices. It will be observed that, except in the case of the Battifolle letters (Epist. vii*, vii**, vii***), the numeration of the lines of the Latin texts of the Epistolae is double. That on the left-hand side of the page (to which references in the Notes and Appendices apply) corresponds with the 1 For instance, in Epist. vi. 152, the textus receptus substitutes the classical form susurrus for the mediaeval susurrium, reading 'susurro blandientem', and thus violating the cursus, which is rectified by the restoration of the MS. reading, 'susúrrio blàndiéntem' (velox). 1 numbering of the lines in the Oxford Dante, which is now almost universally accepted as the 'standard' numeration for the purpose of reference. The numeration (of every fifth line) on the right-hand side of the page (to which references in the Indices apply) is necessitated by the fact that in not a few cases the introduction or excision of matter in the course of the constitution of the present text has thrown out the Oxford numbering of the lines. The Battifolle letters, as not being included in the Oxford Dante, are numbered on the right-hand side only. 2 I had hoped to avail myself of the advice and assistance of my old friend and fellow Dantist, Dr. Edward Moore, in the preparation of this edition, which was undertaken in the first instance largely at his suggestion; but this was not to be. I had, however, the satisfaction of receiving his approval of sundry of my proposed emendations in the Oxford text, which I had submitted to him for his consideration, shortly before his death. In conclusion, I desire to express my acknowledgements for valuable suggestions and generous assistance to my friend, Dr. C. B. Heberden, Principal of Brasenose, as 1 It is, for example, the numeration adopted in my own Dante Dictionaries, and (at Professor C. E. Norton's instance, as the result of an appeal from myself) in the American Dante Society's Concordances to the Italian Prose Works and Latin Works of Dante (printed at the Clarendon Press). 2 In the last letter I received from him, just a week before he died, Dr. Moore once more expressed the hope that I would embody the result of my labours on the text in a new edition of the Epistolae. well as to other members of the Oxford Dante Society, among whom should specially be mentioned Professor W. P. Ker of All Souls, the Dean of Christ Church (Dr. Strong), and the Rev. F. E. Brightman of Magdalen ; also to the late Dr. Bannister, formerly of Rome, for his kind offices in procuring photographic reproductions of the Vatican and S. Pantaleo MSS. of the Epistolae, and to Mr. Horatio F. Brown, of Venice, for similar services with regard to the Marcian MS. I am glad to take this opportunity of acknowledging my indebtedness to the Press readers, to whose vigilance is due the detection of sundry errors and misprints which had escaped my notice. FIVEWAYS, BURNHAM, BUCKS. March 1920. PAGET TOYNBEE. 'Omnium hominum quos ad amorem veritatis natura (Dantis De Monarchia, i. 1, 1–7.) |