A DICTIONARY OF PROPER NAMES AND NOTABLE MATTERS IN THE WORKS OF DANTE BY PAGET TOYNBEE, M. A. BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD EDITOR OF 'SPECIMENS OF OLD FRENCH,' 'HISTORICAL FRENCH GRAMMAR,' ETC. 'Dietro alle poste delle care piante' Inf. xxiii. 148 OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 'Si ne di je pas que cist livres soit estrais de mon povre sens, ne de ma nue science; mais il est autressi comme une bresche de miel cueillie de diverses flors.' PREFACE IN this Dante Dictionary I have made an attempt to bring together, in a convenient and concise form, such information as is available concerning the various persons and places mentioned or referred to in the works of Dante (i. e. in the Divina Commedia, the Canzoniere, the Vita Nuova, the Convivio, the De Vulgari Eloquentia, the De Monarchia, the Epistolae, the Eclogae, and the Quaestio de Aqua et Terra, as printed in the Oxford Dante1). I have endeavoured, as far as possible, to present the results of the most recent researches. This has been, in not a few cases, a matter of some difficulty, owing to the fact that a great many of the numerous articles on Dantesque subjects published in Italy make their appearance in more or less ephemeral periodicals. For this reason I have been obliged occasionally to accept my information at second hand, through the medium of one or other of the special Dante publications, such as the Giornale Dantesco, the Bullettino della Società Dantesca Italiana, and the like. I am not sanguine enough to suppose that I have succeeded in every instance in bringing my articles wholly up to date' 2. In extenuation of any shortcomings in this respect I can only plead the wide extent of the field which has had to be explored, and the 'quel d'Adamo', as Dante puts it, 'l'incarco della carne d'Adamo', beneath which the energies of even the most ardent explorers will sometimes flag. A few kindred subjects have been included with the proper names, such as the denominations of the several classes of sinners, &c., and of the various heavens, &c., mentioned in the Divina Commedia (e. g. Accidiosi, Ipocriti, Traditori; Cielo Stellato, Rosa Celestiale); certain personifications and titles (e. g. Aquila, Pellicano; Archimandrita, Savio); the titles of books quoted by Dante (e. g. Aeneis, Ethica, De Regimine Principum); and so on 3. Tutte le Opere di Dante Alighieri, nuovamente rivedute nel testo dal Dr. E. Moore, con Indice dei Nomi Propri e delle Cose Notabili, compilato da Paget Toynbee. Oxford, 1894 (second edition, 1897). The convenience of this edition for the purposes of reference can hardly be overrated. I have been able in a few cases to add references to important articles which appeared while this work was passing through the press. 3 "A list of these 'notable matters' will be found at the end of the volume (Table xxxv). |