Description
Book SynopsisDante's New Life of the Book examines Dante's Vita nuova through its transformations in manuscripts, printed books, translations, and adaptations. Eisner investigates how these different material manifestations participate in the work, drawing attention to its distinctive elements.
Trade ReviewUltimately, the book is both a useful summary of the most important critical problems linked to the Vita nuova and an overview of the different interpretative positions that they pose. Moreover, it is an interesting application of a working method which, although philologically correct, can be called "comparative" at all levels, and which has the merit of overturning the common expository approach by starting with the legacy of the text to reveal new meanings in the "original." * Andrea Quaini, French & Italian, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Comitatus *
Dante's New Life of the Book will be interesting not only for Dante scholars but also for anyone interested in intersections between form, literary history, and material textuality. Every chapter contains intriguing instances of the transmission of Dante's text, insightful readings of Vita nuova, and new ways of understanding the point of contact between the two. Dante's New Life of the Book is thus a valuable addition to the life that it commemorates. * Kara Gaston, University of Toronto, Speculum *
Dante's New Life of the Book also charts stimulating pedagogical directions, as it shows that the timelessness of Dante's many contributions to world literature depends on the intrinsic tensions, contradictions, and innovations that are the trademark of his literary experimentation and cultural restlessness. * Filippo Gianferrari, UC Santa Cruz, Modern Philology *
As the Veronica is for Christ, the Vita Nuova is a substitute for Beatrice's presence that can be circulated amongst the faithful. * Stefano Milonia, Medium AEvum *
Martin Eisner's monograph marks a much-awaited breakthrough in the history of Dante Studies. It is the first full-length study to attempt and succeed at reconciling and transnational comparativism in Reception Studies...Dante's New Life of the Book sets a whole new course for the field demonstrating that the synergy between textual, book-historical, and reception studies illuminates the darkest corners in the history of a work's 'continued survival' across time, editorial formats, and world literatures. * Federica Coluzzi, Modern Language Review *
Table of ContentsPrologue: A Philology of World Literature Part One: Interpreting Beatrice 1: The Encounter (Postcard) 2: The Dream (Film) 3: The Crisis (Musical Staves) Part Two: Glossing Beatrice 4: The Mouth (Marginal Gloss) 5: The New Homer (Ultraviolet Colophon) 6: The Interruption (Picture Frame) Part Three: Remembering Beatrice 7: The Painting (Composition) 8: The Other Woman (Collation) 9: The Veronica (Tipped-in)
