Dante: Convivio: A Dual-Language Critical Edition

Description

Dante's Convivio, composed in exile between 1304 and 1307, is a series of self-commentaries on three of Dante's long poems. These allegorical love poems and philosophical verse become the basis for philosophical, literary, moral, and political exposition. The prose is written in Italian so that those who were not educated in Latin could take part in what Dante called his 'banquet of knowledge'. In this edition, eminent Dante translator-scholar Andrew Frisardi offers the first fully annotated translation of the work into English, with an extensive introduction, making Dante's often complex writings accessible to scholars and students. The parallel Italian text is also included for the first time in an English translation of the Convivio. Readers of this work can gain a strong understanding of the philosophical themes across Dante's work, including the Divine Comedy, as well as the logic, politics and science of his time.

Originally from Boston, Andrew Frisardi lives in Central Italy. His work as a writer, translator, and independent scholar has been awarded with a Fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation, a Raiziss de Palchi Translation Award from the Academy of American Poets, and a Hawthornden Literary Fellowship. His edition of Dante's Vita nova, with translation, introduction, and notes, was published in 2012. He has also published translations of the poetry of Giuseppe Ungaretti and Franco Loi.

'As well as a translation, [Frisardi] offers the most recent Italian text, ... along with a long thoughtful introduction and more than 200 pages of notes. ... The Convivio ... demands application and reflection. Frisardi provides serious, up-to-date help for the willing anglophone reader - substantial nourishment.' Peter Hainsworth, The Times Literary Supplement 'Andrew Frisardi's new dual-language translation situates itself carefully into [a] flourishing current of contemporary work, and makes a most welcome addition to the available literature. ... Frisardi's excellent edition-translation and its apparatus is to be welcomed for its concern to present afresh the Convivio to an anglophone readership and for the ways it foregrounds its importance and multifaceted character as one of Dante's most important 'other works'.' Simon Gilson, Speculum 'I welcome this book as one of the finest heralds of an upcoming, new phase in the life of Dante's Convivio.' Ambrogio Camozzi Pistoja, Temenos Academy Review