Dante and the Making of a Modern Author »

Albert Russell Ascoli is Gladys Arata Terrill Distinguished Professor in the Department of Italian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

The first comprehensive study of Dante's evolving, transformative relationship to medieval ideas of authorship and authority.

T.L. Cooksey - Library Journal

Dante stands as the first modern author. That said, the medieval conception of author differs from our own modern-day understanding of the word. Throughout his works, Dante was deeply concerned with defining the nature of authorship and the role of his own authority as a cultural operator, especially with regard to the "authority" of the poet on matters political and theological. Here, Ascoli (Italian studies, Univ. of California, Berkeley), who has authored numerous books and articles on Dante, Machiavelli, and Ariosto, offers a magisterial treatment of Dante's evolving conception of author. He historicizes and contextualizes the term while tracing Dante's active redefinition of it. Ascoli pays special attention to Dante's earlier works and their anticipation of his seminal The Divine Comedy. Thoroughly grounded in the primary and secondary literature, Ascoli's text is accessible even to the interested nonspecialist. An important contribution to Dante studies; highly recommended for all academic libraries.

1 The author in history 3

Pt. 1 An author in the works: Dante before the Commedia

2 Definitions: the vowels of authority 67

3 Language: "neminem ante nos" 130

4 Auto-commentary: dividing Dante 175

Pt. 2 Authority in person: Dante between Monarchia and the Commedia

5 "No judgment among equals": Dividing authority in Dante's Monarchia 229

6 Palinode and history 274

7 The author of the Commedia 301

Works consulted 406

Index of proper names and works cited 445