Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/901

* DANTE ALIGHIERI. 781 DANTON. attempt at a scientific treatise of the Italian language. Dante recognizes the kinship of the liuniance languages, but errs rather curiouslj- in declaring Latin an artilicial product of later origin. He distingiiislies, moreover, foirteen dia- lects, and condemns them all, including that of Tuscany. Concerning the poetry, the majesty, the phil- osopliy of Dante's masterpiece, theDi'i'iiieCoiiicdy, whole libraries have been written in praise, in controversy, and in elucidation. The central mo- tive of the epic may be brielly summed up as fol- lows: It depicts a vision, in which the poet is conducted, first by 'ergil, the representative of human reason, through hell and purgatory; and then by Beatrice, the representative of revela- tion, through paradise, and finally by Saint Bernard through the several heavens, where he beholds the triune God. The name Cominedia was given to the work because, beginning with the horrible, it ends cheerfully, and because in re- spect to the style it was lowly, being wi'itten in the vulgar tongue. The epithet "Divina' was added by the admiration of after-times. Hell is repre- sented in the ])oem as a funnel-shaped hollow, formed of gradually contracting circles, the low- est and narrowest of wliieh is at the earth's cen- tre. Purgatory is a mountain rising solitary from the ocean., on that side of the earth that is op- posite to us. It is divided into terraces, and its top is the terrestrial paradise, the first abode of man. From this the poet ascends through the seven planetary heavens, the heaven of the fixed stars and the "jjrimum moliile,' to the empyrean or fixed seat of God. In all i^arts of the regions thus traversed there arise conversations with noted personages, for the most part those re- cently decea-sed, whom Dante had known per- sonally in life. Incidentally, the deepest ques- tions of mediaeval philosophy are discussed and solved, and the social and moral conditions of Italy, with the corruption of C'liurch and State, are depicted with noble indignation. Fifty-two years after the poet's death the Republic of Florence set apart an annual sum for public lectures to explain the Divine Comedy to the people, and Boccaccio himself was ap- pointed first lecturer. The example was imi- tated in several other cities of Italy. The works of these men are among the earliest commen- taries on Dante that we possess. Since 1472 there have appeared nearly 500 editions of the Dicine Comedy in Italian, and the mnnber is being augmented at the rate of at least six a year. Of the notable early editions may be mentioned the following, the earliest of all: Fuligno (1472): the Nidobeatine (ililan, 1477- 78) -the first Florentine (1481 ) : the first Aldine (1502) ; the first Cruscan edition (1595) ; that of Volpi (1727); and of Venturi (1732), Of the countless modern editions, with eonnuen- taries, that of Fraticelli (1852) is probably as good as anv. The chief English translations are: Bovd's ("1785); Gary's (1814); Wright's (18.3.3) : Pollock's (1854) ; Longfellow's (1807) ; Norton's (1891-92). Bibliography. Bartoli, Storia della lettera- iura itriliana, vols, iv., v., vi. (Florence, 1881- 89) ; Gaspary, Geschichte der italleiiinrlien Lit- teratur, vol. i. (Strassburg, 1SS5) ; "The Earliest Lives of Dante." trans, from the Italian of Boc- caccio and Bruni. in Ynle f<tiidien in Enrjiish. Xo, 10 (Xew York. 1901): Villani, fronicn (Triest, 1857) ; Pelli, Mcmoric per srrrire alia vila di Danle (Florence, 1823); Balbo, Vila di Dante (Turin, 1839), trans, by Burnbury, 't'ht l.ije and Times of Ddnte {.omVm. 1S52| ; l"raticelli,.v/on'<( delUi villi rfi /)«»/('( Florence. ISlil ) : lilaiic. "Dante Alighieri nach seinem I.eben nnd litterariseheu Werk gesehildert." in Ersch und Gruber, Ailije- meine Eneiklopiidie, vol. xxiii. (Leipzig, 18.32); Wegele, Dnnle Alif/hieris Lcben iiud Werke ini Zusammcnhanye daryestcUt (Jena, 1879) ; Scar- tazzini, Dante Aliyhieri, seine Zeit, .lein- Leben nnd xeinc Werl,c (Frankfort, 1879); Kraus, Dante, scin Leben und ncin Werk (Berlin, 1897) ; Federn, Dante and Bin Timen, Eng. trans. (Xew York, 1902); Botta, Introduelion to the titudy of Dante, being a new edition of the author's Dante as Philosopher, Patriot, and Poet (London, 1887) ; Rossetti, A .S'/i«rfo«- of Danle I London, 1884); Scartazzini, .1 Handbook to Danle, irans, by Davidson (Boston, 1887); id., .1 Companion lu Danle, trans, by Butler (Lon- don, 1893) ; iloore, Textual Criticism of the Di- vina Commcdia (Cambridge, 1889) ; Tutte le Opere di Danle Aliyhieri (Oxford, 1894) ; id., Studies in Dante (Oxford, 1890-99) : Butler, Dante, His Times and His Work (London, 1895) ; Symonds, Introduelion to the Study of Dante (Edinburgh, 1890) ; Witte, Essays oh Dante, selected, trans, and edited by Lawrence and Wick- steed (Boston, 1S9S) ; Lowell, Amony My liooks, 2d series (Boston, 1880) ; JIacaulay, Essays, vol. i.: Carlyle, Heroes and Hero-n-orsliip : Church, Dante and Other Essays (London, 1890) ; Tozer, An Enylish Commentary on Dante's Divina Com- ntedia (Oxford, 1901); Scartazzini, Dante in Germania (Jlilan, 1881-83), which contains a complete catalogue of all German publications on Dante: id., Eneiclopedia Duntesea (Milan, 1896-99), DANTES, diiN'tas', Edmoxd, The Count in Dumas's romance The Count of Monte Crista. In the pursuit of vengeance, he adopts the aliases of 'Lord Wilmore" and 'Abbe Busoni,' DANTIER, dilx'tya'. Henki Alpiioxse ( 1810 — ) . A French author, born at Xoyon. His books include a number of valuable histories, particularly of the Benedictines, such as Eludes sur les licncdiclins ( 1854) ; Lcs monaslires liine- dictins d'ltalic: and Les femmes dans la societe ehreticnnr (1878). The latter was crowned by the Frenili Academy. DANTON, djiN'tON', Georges .J.cqies (1759- 94). One of the great po])nlar leaders in the French Revolution. He was born October 28, 1759, at Arcis-sur-Aube, of a bourgeois family. Though his parents wished him to become a priest, Danton preferred the law, and, after being educated in his native town and at Troyes, he went to Paris. A born orator, Danton quickly rose in his profession, and as early as 1785 he was known as a successful practitioner before the Parlement of Paris, In 1787 he married, and purchased, at a cost of 80,000 livres, a posi- tion as advocate of the Royal Council, and was soon earning an income of 25,000 livres a year. At this time he is described as a forcible and eloquent speaker, a man of liberal tastes, fond of books, and hapjiy in his domestic life. He saw the Revolution approaching, and as early as 1787 said to his ])atron, M. de Barentin, "lloder- ate reforms are no longer possible: do you not see the avnlauelie soon to (leseend ?'' It is said