Along with the
âPrefaceâ to
The
Early Italian Poets, this Introduction to the section
focused on Dante and his circle is one of DGR's most important critical writings. Only
âHand and
Soulâ contains more trenchant explications of DGR's
leading aesthetic ideas, and in that case the focus is on painting rather than writing.
DGR probably wrote these notes on Dante and his circle fairly lateâprobably in 1860 or in early or
mid-1861, when he was putting the whole book of translations together. As with the related critical material that he included in The
Early Italian Poets, the essay on âPoets Chiefly before Danteâ, not many manuscript materials survive that relate to this essay. One of those that does survive is watermarked 1859. The largest single set of these materials is housed in the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Centerâfour pages of notes in English and Italian.
This collection contains 13 texts and images, including:
The Early Italian Poets text
Scholarly Commentary
IntroductionÂ
Along with the âPrefaceâ to The Early Italian Poets, this Introduction to the section focused on Dante and his circle is one of DGR's most important critical writings. Only âHand and Soulâ contains more trenchant explications of DGR's leading aesthetic ideas, and in that case the focus is on painting rather than writing.
Textual History: CompositionÂ
DGR probably wrote these notes on Dante and his circle fairly lateâprobably in 1860 or in early or mid-1861, when he was putting the whole book of translations together. As with the related critical material that he included in The Early Italian Poets, the essay on âPoets Chiefly before Danteâ, not many manuscript materials survive that relate to this essay. One of those that does survive is watermarked 1859. The largest single set of these materials is housed in the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Centerâfour pages of notes in English and Italian.
Printing HistoryÂ
First published in 1861 in The Early Italian Poets; it was reprinted in 1874 in Dante and his Circle.