Dante Alighieri (38 page)

    
The
De Vulgari Eloquentia
made its first appearance in print in the Italian translation of Trissino, published (anonymously) at Vicenza in 1529. The original Latin text was first printed about fifty years later (in 1577) at Paris, by Jacopo Corbinelli, a Florentine, who came to France in the train of Catherine de Medicis. A second Italian translation was made at the beginning of the seventeenth century by Celso Cittadini of Siena (d. 1627), the manuscript of whose version, which has never been published, and which was first brought to light in 1824, is preserved in the Imperial Library at Schönbrunn.
²⁷
Before
the publication of the Latin text by Corbinelli the genuineness of the treatise, as printed in Italian by Trissino, was by no means generally admitted. The Latin text has been many times reprinted. A critical edition, by Pio Rajna, was published at Florence, under the auspices of the
Società Dantesca Italiana
, in 1896; a revised text by the same editor was published in 1897.

    
Only three manuscripts of the
De Vulgari Eloquentia
are known to be in existence, two of which (preserved respectively at Grenoble and at Milan) belong to the fourteenth century or beginning of the fifteenth. The Grenoble manuscript (which has been reproduced in facsimile) formed the base of Corbinelli's edition of the Latin text; while the Milanese (or Trivulzian) manuscript was the original from which Trissino made his Italian version.

    
Latin Letters
.—Dante wrote several letters in Latin, mostly political, some of which have been already quoted.
²⁸
Those commonly accepted as genuine are ten in number, viz.:—

    
Epist
. i.
²⁹
To Niccolò Albertini da Prato, Cardinal of Ostia (written after July, 1304), thanking him on behalf of the Florentine Bianchi for his attempts to make peace in Florence, and bring about the return of the exiles, and begging him to persevere in his efforts, and, further, promising in obedience to his wishes to abstain from hostilities against the Neri.

    
This letter, together with five others (
Epistolae
ii, iii, v, vi, vii), is preserved in a MS. in the Vatican (
Palatine
1729), which also contains the
De Monarchia
. This MS., which was taken from Heidelberg on the capture of the city by Tilly in 1622, was presented by Maximilian of Bavaria to Pope Gregory XV in that year. It belongs to the end of the fourteenth century, being dated 1394. The above letter, which was first printed by Torri in 1842,
³⁰
is not expressly assigned to Dante in the MS., but is commonly ascribed to him on internal evidence.

    
Epist
. ii. To Guido and Oberto, Counts of Romena (written
circ
. 1304), condoling with them on the death of their uncle, Count Alessandro of Romena, chief of the Ghibellines of Arezzo.

    
This letter is preserved in the Vatican MS. (
Palatine
1729) already mentioned (see above). It was first printed by Torri in 1842.
³¹
It is assigned to Dante in the title supplied by the copyist, but is considered by some authorities to be not by Dante, but by another hand, though not necessarily a forgery.

    
Epist
. iii. To the Marquis Moroello Malaspina (written
circ
. 1307), with a canzone (
Canz
. xi. “Amor, dacchè convien pur ch' io mi doglia”), describing how the writer had been overcome by a tempestuous passion for a lady he had met in the valley of the Arno.

    
This letter, like the two previous ones, is preserved in the Vatican MS. mentioned above. It was first printed (with considerable emendations) by Witte in 1842.
³²
It is assigned to Dante in the MS., and is generally accepted as authentic.

    
Epist
. iv. To a Pistojan exile, commonly supposed to be Cino da Pistoja (written
circ
. 1308), in reply to his inquiry whether the soul “can pass from passion to passion,” with a sonnet (perhaps
Son
. xxxvi. “Io sono stato con Amore insieme”).

    
This letter is preserved in a MS. (which belonged to Boccaccio) in the Laurentian Library at Florence (xxix. 8). It was first printed by Witte in 1827.
³³
The letter is headed in the MS. “Exulanti Pistoriensi Florentinus exul immeritus,” the two exiles being commonly identified with Cino da Pistoja and Dante. In this same MS. are preserved two other letters of Dante (
Epistolae
viii, ix), as well as the letter of Frate Ilario to Uguccione della Faggiuola.
³⁴

    
Epist
. v. To the Princes and Peoples of Italy on the advent of the Emperor Henry VII into Italy (written in 1310), exhorting them to receive him as the Imperial successor of Caesar and Augustus, and the representative of justice and mercy.
³⁵

    
This letter, like the first three, is preserved in the Vatican MS. above mentioned. The Latin original, which was not discovered until 1838, was first printed by Torri in 1842.
³⁶
There exists an early Italian translation of it, attributed to Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), which was first printed at Rome in 1754. In the title the writer is described as “humilis Italus Dantes Aligherius Florentinus et exul immeritus”.

    
Epist
. vi. To the people of Florence (dated 31 March, 1311), expressing his indignation at their resistance to Henry VII, and fiercely denouncing them as rebels against the Empire,
³⁷

    
This letter, like the preceding, is preserved in the Vatican MS. It was first printed by Torri in 1842.
³⁸
In the title the writer is described as “Dantes Aligherius Florentinus et exul immeritus”. This is one of the three letters of Dante mentioned by Villani.
³⁹

    
Epist
.
vii
. To the Emperor Henry VII (written on 16 April, 1311), urging him to come without delay, and crush the rebellious Florentines.
⁴⁰

    
This letter, like the two preceding ones, is preserved in the Vatican MS. The Latin original was first printed by Witte in 1827
⁴¹
from a MS. at Venice. There exists an early Italian translation, which was first printed by Doni in 1547 at Florence.
⁴²
In the title the writer is described as in the preceding letter. This is one of the three letters of Dante mentioned by Villani.
⁴³

    
Epist
. viii. To the Italian Cardinals in conclave at Carpentras after the death of Clement V (written after 20 April, 1314), calling upon them to elect an Italian Pope, who should restore the Papal See to Rome.
⁴⁴

    
This letter is preserved in the Laurentian MS. (xxix. 8), mentioned above, which contains also
Epistolae
iv, ix. It was first printed by Witte in 1827.
⁴⁵
In the title the writer is described as “Dantes Aligherius de Florentia”. This letter, like the two preceding ones, is mentioned by Villani, who says:—

    
“This Dante, when he was in exile . . . wrote three noble letters, one of which he sent to the government of Florence, complaining of his undeserved exile; the second he sent to the Emperor Henry when he was besieging Brescia,
⁴⁶
reproaching him for his delay, after the
manner of the prophets of old; and the third he sent to the Italian Cardinals, at the time of the vacancy of the Holy See after the death of Pope Clement, urging them to agree together in electing an Italian Pope. These letters were written in Latin, in a lofty style, fortified with admirable precepts and authorities, and were greatly commended by men of wisdom and discernment.”
⁴⁷

    
Epist
. ix. To a Florentine friend (written in 1316), rejecting with scorn the offer of a return to Florence under certain degrading conditions.
⁴⁸

    
This letter, like the preceding, is preserved in the Laurentian MS. (xxix. 8), which formerly belonged to Boccaccio. It was first printed by Dionisi in 1790 at Verona.
⁴⁹

    
Epist
. x. To Can Grande della Scala (written not later than 1318), dedicating the
Paradiso
to him, with remarks upon the interpretation of the poem, and on the subject, form, and title of the
Divina Commedia
.
⁵⁰
This letter, which is preserved, in whole or in part, in six MSS., including one of the fourteenth century,
⁵¹
formed the subject of the opening lecture on the
Divina Commedia
delivered in Florence by Filippo Villani in 1391, when he was appointed (next but one in succession to Boccaccio) to the readership on Dante, which had been established in 1373.
⁵²
It was first printed, in a very corrupt text, by G. Baruffaldi in 1700 at Venice.
⁵³
In the title the writer is described as “Dantes Aligherius Florentinus natione, non moribus”.

    

    
Besides the above ten letters,
⁵⁴
there are three short letters written in Latin, between 1310 and 1311, by the Countess of Battifolle to Margaret of Brabant, wife of the Emperor Henry VII, which were supposed by Witte to have been composed by Dante, but this attribution is not generally accepted.
⁵⁵
There is another letter, which exists only in Italian, purporting to have been written by Dante to Guido Novello da Polenta at Ravenna, from Venice, on 30 March, 1314; this, however, is an undoubted forgery, probably of the sixteenth century, when it was first printed.
⁵⁶
Other letters, which have been lost, are mentioned by several of Dante's early biographers; and Dante himself in the
Vita Nuova
(§31, 11. 5-9) refers to a letter he composed beginning, “Quomodo sedet sola civitas”. Boccaccio says “he wrote many prose epistles in Latin, of which a number are still in existence”.
⁵⁷
Leonardo Bruni claims to have seen several letters in Dante's own handwriting (of which he gives a description),
⁵⁸
among which he mentions one giving an account of the battle of Campaldino
⁵⁹
; and another referring to his priorate as the origin of all his misfortunes
⁶⁰
; and others which he wrote after his exile to members of the government of Florence, as well as to the people,
⁶¹
among
the latter being a long one, beginning, “Popule mee, quid feci tibi ?”
⁶²
Filelfo quotes the beginnings of three Latin letters alleged to have been written by Dante (to the King of Hungary, to Pope Boniface, and to his own son at Bologna), and adds that Dante wrote many others, too numerous to mention.
⁶³
No trace of any of these letters has been found; and it is probable that his account of them was a mere fiction on the part of Filelfo, whose statements are by no means always to be believed, and who is known to have been guilty of literary frauds of various kinds.

    
Latin Eclogues
.—Dante also wrote two Eclogues, in Latin hexameters, addressed to Giovanni del Virgilio, professor of poetry at the University of Bologna, who had urged Dante to write poetical compositions in Latin, and had invited him to come to Bologna to receive the poet's laurel crown. These Eclogues were written during the last two years of Dante's life, between 1319 and 1321.
⁶⁴
“Two eclogues of great beauty” are mentioned by Boccaccio among Dante's works,
⁶⁵
and, though some critics reject them as spurious, there seems no sufficient reason for questioning their authenticity. They exist in five independent manuscripts, in one of which (the Laurentian MS. xxix. 8, which also contains three of Dante's letters), written in the hand of Boccaccio, they are accompanied by a Latin commentary by an anonymous contemporary writer,
⁶⁶
supposed by some to be Boccaccio
himself.
⁶⁷
The Eclogues were first printed at Florence, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, in a collection of Latin poems (in eleven volumes),
Carmina Illustrium Poetarum Italorum
(1719-1726); they were reprinted at Verona in 1788 by Dionisi in the fourth series of his
Aneddoti
, together with the Latin commentary, and have been many times reprinted since. Critical editions have been published by Wicksteed and Gardner (London, 1902),
⁶⁸
and G. Albini (Florence, 1903).
⁶⁹

    
In the Latin
Carmen
⁷⁰
which opens his correspondence with Dante, Giovanni del Virgilio, after a complimentary reference to the
Commedia
, expresses his regret that Dante should confine himself to the composition of poems in the vernacular, instead of in Latin; to submit such themes as his to the judgment of the vulgar herd is like casting pearls before swine (ll. 1-21). Giovanni then suggests to Dante several subjects from contemporary history worthy of being treated in a Latin poem, for instance, the exploits and death of the Emperor Henry VII (24 August, 1313); the defeat of the Guelfs at Monte Catini by Uguccione della Faggiuola (29 August, 1315); the operations of Can Grande della Scala against Padua (1314-1318); or, finally, the siege of King Robert of Naples in Genoa, and his ultimate defeat of the Ghibellines (July 1318-February
1319) (ll. 26-30); such a poem would extend Dante's fame throughout the four quarters of the globe, and Giovanni himself, if thought worthy, would present him for the laurel crown (ll. 30-38). Giovanni concludes by begging Dante to send him a reply.