Dante's Convivio, written 1304-07, is the first major prose document in the Italian language. This new translation is based on the recent Italian critical edition of Maria Simonelli and includes as well the text of the three Italian canzoni. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This collection of essays is the first comprehensive study on Dante and satire within his entire corpus that has been published. Its title evokes the moment when Virgil leads Dante through Limbo, the uppermost portion of Hell. There, they are joined by four classical poets, and Virgil describes one of them as “Horace the satirist” (“Orazio satiro,” 4:89). By applying the expression to Dante himself, this volume seeks to explore the satirical elements in his works. Although Dante is not typically described as a satirist, anyone familiar with his works will recognize the strong satirical element in his many writings. Ultimately, this study shows that Dante engages in satire in order to attain the primary literary tool at his disposal for his prophetic objectives: the castigation of vice.

"For all that has been written about the author of the Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) remains the best guide to his own life and work. Dante's writings are therefore never far away in this authoritative and comprehensive intellectual biography, which offers a fresh account of the medieval Florentine poet's life and thought before and after his exile in 1302. Beginning with the often violent circumstances of Dante's life, the book examines his successive works as testimony to the course of his passionate humanity: his lyric poetry through to the Vita nova as the great work of his first period; the Convivio, De vulgari eloquentia and the poems of his early years in exile; and the Monarchia and the Commedia as the product of his maturity. Describing as it does a journey of the mind, the book confirms the nature of Dante's undertaking as an exploration of what he himself speaks of as "maturity in the flame of love." The result is an original synthesis of Dante's life and work." --Amazon.com.

Dante is one of the towering figures of medieval European literature. Yet many riddles and questions about him persist. By re-reading Dante with an open mind, Barbara Reynolds made remarkable discoveries and unlocked previously hidden secrets about this greatest of Florentine poets. A fundamental enigma has tantalised readers of the 'Commedia' for seven centuries. Who was the leader prophesied by Virgil and Beatrice to bring peace to the world? Many attempts have been made to identify him, but none has seemed conclusive - until now. As well as proposing a solution to the famous prophecies, this lively, engaging and elegantly-written biography contains a provocative new idea in virtually every chapter. Dr Reynolds' research indicates that Dante smoked cannabis to reach new heights of creativity. That Beatrice, Dante's great love, was not who most scholars think she was. That Dante was a talented public speaker, who created a quite new form of poetic art, holding audiences spellbound. Above all, Reynolds views Dante as one of the greatest spin-doctors of Western civilization. His aim was not to preach an interesting parable about punishments for sin and rewards for virtue. It was to use poetry to change the politics of the age, and unite Europe around the secular authority of an Emperor. To promote this idea, which dominated his writings from his exile onwards, Dante combined it with a dramatic presentation of the Christian belief in Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. Vividly told in the first person, with a colour and immediacy derived from the pop art of street narrators - now made to seem respectable by its use of classical predecessors like Virgil - this extraordinary journey through the three realms was always profoundly political in intent. Dante here comes alive as never before: irate, opinionated, settling scores - a man of multifaceted gifts and extraordinary genius, whose role as an interpreter of world history makes him more than ever relevant to the new millennium.

Aquila, aseries planned for biennial publication, is presented to scholars with a broad interest in modem languages and literatures. Each volume contains original material contributed by specialists within tbis general area, with minimallimitations as to language or length of the studies, the criteria being significance of the content and clear, interesting presentation. Aquila II includes four important monographs conceming Luther, literary criticism, Dante, and a French avant-garde salon featuring Mallarme, Verlaine, Charles Cros, Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, etc ... There are excellent articles on a French poetic form in the late Middle Ages, the concept of "Encyclopedia" and general education during the Renaissance, Voltaire's Candide, Gide's Faux-Monnayeurs, and hidden satire in Don Quijote. To the Administration of Boston College, we acknowledge a debt of gratitude for the generous subsidy which has given wings to Aquila, for the advancement of knowledge in modem languages and literatures. The Editors TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE v MONOGRAPHS HEINZ BLUHM, Das Erlebnis und die Interpretation in Luthers Erstlin- schr~ 1 ERICH VON RICHTHOFEN, Limitations of Literary Criticism 78 MARIA PICCHIO SIMONELLI, La prosa nutrice dei verso: dal Convivio aUa Divina Commedia 117 GEORGES ZAYED, Un salon parnassien d'avant-garde: Nina de Villard et ses hOtes 177 ARTICLES MARCEL FRAN~ON, Encyclopedie et culture genereale 230 MARCEL FRAN~ON, Sur la theorie du rondeau litteraire 244 JOSEPH D. GAUTIDER, S.J., The Organic Unity ofLes Faux-Monnayeurs 260 ERNEST A.