The Dante Commentary Tradition
The Daniello commentary was not reprinted until 1989. Since other commentaries
were reprinted (see Sessa imprints), one
can presume that Daniello's commentary was not held in high regard by Renaissance
readers. But lack of popularity does not necessarily reflect lack of importance
for the history of Dante reception and interpretation. An important commentary
on the first 29 cantos of the Inferno by the Modenese philologist
and polemicist Lodovico Castelvetro was composed in 1570 but not printed
until 1886.
Between the years 1570 and 1732 not a single major commentary on the Comedy
was published. When one contrasts the 162 years between Castelvetro (1570)
and Venturi (1732) with the 248 years that had produced fourteen major commentaries
before 1570, one perceives the remarkable decline that Dante's reputation
had suffered between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment.
Today the Dartmouth
Dante Project (direct database
connection), (whose editors are responsible for the modern edition of
Daniello's commentary) has made available 46 of the most important commentaries
in an on-line database which may be accessed at the following electronic
address: dante@baker.dartmouth.edu.
