An exquisite medley of lyrical verse and poetic prose, La Vita Nuova (The New Life) ranks among the supreme revelations in the literature of love. Its allegorical view of the soul's crisis and growth combines a narrative with meditations, dreams, songs, and prayers. In this masterpiece of his youth, Dante assembles a selection of his love poems within a prose framework that situates them chronologically and autobiographically. The result is a history of his love for Beatrice, the muse he encountered in childhood who continued to influence him long after her marriage and early death. Upon completing this work in 1294, the future author of The Divine Comedy pledged to write of Beatrice "what has never before been written of any woman." Instructors and students of Italian, as well as anyone interested in the masterworks of world literature, will appreciate this dual-language edition. It features a new English translation, in addition to an informative introduction and helpful notes.

Dante'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.

A vivid reimagining of the Vita nuova as a revolution in poetry and a revelation of divine destiny through love.

Fall in love with love in this gorgeous collection of poems from Italian master Dante Alighieri, author of The Divine Comedy. Although collections of lyric poems singing the praises of love are as old as the written word, La Vita Nuova is remarkably innovative. Combining works in verse and prose in a linked series of pieces exploring the complexities of courtly love, this enchanting anthology is a must-read for poetry fans.

This volume provides the first systematic study of the translation and reception of Dante’s Vita Nova in the Anglophone world, reconstructing for the first time the contexts and genesis of its English-language afterlife from the early nineteenth century to the present day. Dante is one of the foremost authors of the Western canon, and his Vita Nova has been repeatedly translated into English over the past two centuries. However, there exists no comprehensive account of the critical, scholarly, and creative English-language reception of Dante’s work. This collection brings together scholars from Dante studies, translation studies, English studies, and book history to examine the translation and reception of the Vita Nova among modern English-speaking publics, in both academic and non-academic contexts, and thus represents a major contribution to Dante studies. The Afterlife of Dante’s Vita Nova in the Anglophone World will be an essential reference point for scholars and students in English and Italian studies, literary and cultural studies, and translation and reception studies in the UK, Ireland, the USA, and Italy, where Dante is taught and researched.

La Vita Nuova (1292–94) has many aspects. Dante’s libello, or “little book,” is most obviously a book about love. In a sequence of thirty-one poems, the author recounts his love of Beatrice from his first sight of her (when he was nine and she eight), through unrequited love and chance encounters, to his profound grief sixteen years later at her sudden and unexpected death. Linked with Dante’s verse are commentaries on the individual poems—their form and meaning—as well as the events and feelings from which they originate. Through these commentaries the poet comes to see romantic love as the first step in a spiritual journey that leads to salvation and the capacity for divine love. He aims to reside with Beatrice among the stars. David Slavitt gives us a readable and appealing translation of one of the early, defining masterpieces of European literature, animating its verse and prose with a fluid, lively, and engaging idiom and rhythm. His translation makes this first major book of Dante’s stand out as a powerful work of art in its own regard, independent of its “junior” status to La Commedia. In an Introduction, Seth Lerer considers Dante as a poet of civic life. “Beatrice,” he reminds us, “lives as much on city streets and open congregations as she does in bedroom fantasies and dreams.”