The Divine Comedy
by Dante Alighieri
Illustrated by Gustave Doré, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Abandon all hope, you who enter here.
The Divine Comedy is Dante Alighieri's record of his visionary journey through the triple realms of Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. This epic weaves together the three threads of Classical and Christian history; contemporary Medieval politics and religion; and Dante's own inner life including his love for Beatrice, to create a complex and highly structured narrative poem, and one of the world’s great works of literature. Divided into three major sections—Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso—the poem traces the journey of Dante from darkness and error to the revelation of the divine light, culminating in the Beatific Vision of God.
Through the depths of Hell in the Inferno, and upwards along the mountain of Purgatory in the Purgatorio, Dante is guided by Virgil, the great poet of the Classical Roman Empire, exploring, as he does so, the political, ethical and religious issues of his time. Dante in his own life, and in this epic, represents a 'party of one', desirous of purifying the Church on the one hand, and the Holy Roman Empire on the other, yet caught between those two great worldly powers, and turning to literature to make his voice heard.
From the summit of Purgatory, Dante ascends in the Paradiso, guided by Beatrice, into the celestial Paradise, where love, truth and beauty intertwine in his great vision of revelation.
The Divine Comedy is widely considered to contain more than first meets the eye. A touchstone work for occult practitioners, the text can be understood at a variety of levels by students of the Western Esoteric Tradition. Dante himself was affiliated with secret organisations such as La Fede Santa (the Sacred Faith) a tertiary order of the Templars, and a mysterious group of ‘poets’ known in literature as the Fideli D’Amore (the faithful to Love).
Barnes & Noble Collectible Classics: Leatherbound Omnibus Edition
This edition of The Divine Comedy features Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's renowned translation and 135 full-page reproductions of Gustave Doré's classic engravings from the 1867 edition.
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Table of Contents
Introduction
INFERNO
PURGATORIO
PARADISO
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Collector’s Hardcover Edition
712 pages. Bonded-leather binding, metallic foiling and embossing to front, back, and spine. Gilt edging, printed endpapers, ribbon bookmark. Cover and endpaper illustrations by Gustave Doré.
ISBN: 978-1-4351-6206-8
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Press, reviews, endorsements
Article: The Hermetic Message of Dante by Agostino Dominici for New Acropolis Library - read it here
Article: The Path of Initiation in Dante’s Divine Comedy by Jesús Zatón for Logon - read it here
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About the Author
The late Dante Alighieri was born in Florence around 1265, into a family which he claimed descended from the ancient Romans. Little is known of his education, but in his youth he associated with many of the best-known poets, musicians and artists of the day. He entered politics in 1295 and became one of the six governing Priors of Florence in 1300, but was forced into exile with his party in 1301. He wrote, taught and lectured, producing the Vita Nuova, Convivio, De Monarchia and the Divina Commedia, which is widely considered the greatest work of Italian literature. He died in Ravenna in 1321.
About the Artist
The late Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré (1832 – 1883) was a French printmaker, illustrator, painter, and sculptor. Best known for his prolific output of wood-engravings illustrating classic literature, his most impactful works were those he created for The Bible and Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy. The illustrations were immensely successful and have been reproduced countless times worldwide, influencing the visual arts and popular culture in ways difficult to measure.
Doré's work was adored by many writers and poets, who felt he "brought their wildest dreams and fantasies to life". Théophile Gautier stated "Nobody better than this artist can give a mysterious and deep vitality to chimeras, dreams, nightmares, intangible shapes bathed in light and shade, weirdly caricatured silhouettes and all the monsters of fantasy." H.P. Lovecraft drew inspiration from Doré's Rime of the Ancient Mariner illustrations in his formative years.
