Dante > Dante Incunable
Dante Alghieri. La commedia
Brescia: Boninus de Boninis, 1487/88
Columbia RBML Goff D31
This Italian incunable edition of Dante's Divine Comedy presents one woodblock illustration per canto of the Inferno and Purgatorio, stopping only at the opening of Paradiso. The illustrations give a sense of the topography of Hell and Purgatory. At the beginning of the Paradiso, we are offered one small glimpse of Heaven. Some of these illustrations have been colored in by hand. Someone has labeled the figures of Dante and Virgil, in Inferno 15 Brunetto Latini, and in Inferno 34 Lucifer. This edition includes the commentary of Cristoforo Landino, which was often copied with Dante's text in the manuscript tradition.