Originally published in 1981, the ten essays in this collection were originally delivered as public Lecturae Dantis in the University of Cambridge. As far as possible the contributors have preserved the form of the original lectures, which combined elements of the running commentary and the critical essay. Each reading is devoted to a single canto of the Comedy, and the text of that canto has been broken down into manageable units. The authors provide information about background and context and elucidate obscurities or difficult allusions, but their primary concern has been to give a connected critical account of Dante's style, thought, narrative technique, imagery and symbolism in the given canto. The editors have aimed at producing a well-rounded volume that would illustrate as many facets as possible of Dante's complex art.
