The Unexpected Dante: Perspectives on the Divine Comedy

The Unexpected Dante brings together leading scholars whose discoveries and observations add new understanding to The Divine Comedy as a multilayered masterpiece whose publishing history coincides with both the dawn of printing and the digital age. Each essay provides a fresh perspective on the Comedy: the story of Dante’s reception in the United States; the poem’s symbolic interpretations of musical instruments; Dante’s knowledge of Roman law to explain Cato’s enigmatic presence in Purgatory; inventive linguistic and artistic adaptations of the poem to contemporary urban settings; and new discoveries regarding Nicolaus de Laurentii’s 1481 Commedia, an ambitious volume studied by historians since 1900. A bonus catalog showcases selected treasures from the Library’s stellar Dante collections that illustrate the depth and variety of the Comedy’s global influence.