After the Società Dantesca Italiana's foundation on July 31 1888, the Central Committee, as early as at the meeting of June 26, 1889, decided to establish a critical edition of the Commedia and of the minor works.
In 1896 the Society published Pio Rajna's edition of De vulgari Eloquentia; in 1907 Michele Barbi issued the critical edition of the Vita Nuova. More difficult was, at least in those years, the solution of the problems regarding such works, with their complex and rich tradition, as the Rime and the Commedia. These were entrusted by the Society respectively to Michele Barbi and to Giuseppe Vandelli. Barbi in his Studi sul Canzoniere di Dante set forth the problems regarding the edition of the Rime (1915).
After some initial surveies on the part of the Society to develop a systematic review of the codices, based on 396 different passages opportunely selected by M. Barbi, Vandelli begun to elaborate his own editorial criteria, and, starting from the nineteenth century's 'vulgata', he followed up with further experimental efforts.
During 1902 and the following years, these efforts lead to various provisional editions. In those years also the remaining works were entrusted to expert editors: the Convivio to Ernesto Giacomo Parodi and Flaminio Pellegrini; the Monarchia to Enrico Rostagno; the Egloghe and the Epistole to Francesco Novati (and then, after his untimely death, along with the Questio, to Ermenegildo Pistelli).
In 1921 the Society was able to provide, for all the works, much improved texts, edited with great care (under the direction of Barbi) in a single volume (reissued by the Society in 1960).
After Rajna's death in 1930, Aristide Marigo was entrusted with the new edition of De vulgari Eloquentia, an edition that became necessary because of the discovery of the singularly important Berlinese codex. In 1932 the Society published the first volume of the National Edition, a new edition of the Vita Nuova, edited by Barbi. Although the preliminary labors of the remaining Dante's works never ceased, the outbreak of the Second World War made impossible the necessary bibliographical and codicological researches.
After the conflict, during the presidency of Mario Casella, the edition of the Monarchia (issued in 1965) was entrusted to Pier Giorgio Ricci. After Casella's death, the new Central Committee, chaired by Gianfranco Contini, in 1956 conferred on Augusto Mancini the responsibility for the editing of the minor works in Latin and on Pier Giorgio Ricci that for the Monarchia, and entrusted to Domenico De Robertis the edition of the Rime.
Shortly afterwards, Giorgio Petrocchi was entrusted with the edition of the Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata. In 1957 Francesco Mazzoni took place to Augusto Mancini for the edition of the Epistole, the Egloghe and the Questio, while the edition of the Convivio was assigned to Franca Brambilla Ageno.
In 1965, in addition to the Monarchia, the publishing house A. Mondadori published the first two of the four volumes dedicated to the Commedia, edited by Giorgio Petrocchi (the Purgatorio and the Paradiso were issued, respectively, in 1966 and 1967), while of the remaining works, the critical editions of the Fiore and the Detto d'Amore, edited by Gianfranco Contini, were published in 1984.
In the same year, with the expiration of its contract with the publishing house A. Mondadori, the Society entered into its collaboration with the Florentine Publishing House "Le Lettere", which issued in 1994 a new revised edition of the Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata edited by Giorgio Petrocchi, still in four volumes, and in 1995 the critical edition of the Convivio, in three volumes, edited by Franca Brambilla Ageno and reflecting the entire known textual tradition.
In the year 2002 is printed off a critical edition of the Rime edited by Domenico De Robertis, in 3 volumes (5 tomes). In the year 2009 is printed off a new critical edition of the Monarchia edited by Prudence Shaw.
In May, 1968, Gianfranco Contini, after resigning the presidency of the Society, was named by the Central Committee Honorary President and Director of the National Edition, appointment that he maintained until his death, in 1990.
Since then, the Committee for the National Edition of Dante's Works has been composed by the Central Committee of the Society which creates, for each work, a special editorial committee.
The following list, dedicated to the National Edition of Dante's Work and to the publications edited by the Society, forms part of the catalogue of the Publishing House "Le Lettere".
National Edition of Dante's Works
Edited by the Società Dantesca Italiana, previously directed by G. Contini
I. Vita Nova edited by M. Barbi (sold out)
II. Rime edited by D. De Robertis
- I documenti (Vols. I e II)
- Introduzione (Vols. III e IV)
- Testi
- Introduzione (Vols. I e II)
- Testo (Vols. III)
V. Monarchia a cura di P.G. Ricci (Mondadori’s edition); Monarchia edited by P. Shaw
VI. Questio de Aqua et Terra edited by E. Peruzzi; Epistole, Egloge (in preparation)
VII. La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata edited byi G. Petrocchi (2nd revised edition, 1994)
- Introduzione
- L’Inferno
- Il Purgatorio
- Il Paradiso
List of publications
“Studi Danteschi”
Annual. Founded in 1920 by M. Barbi. The review is directed by Guglielmo Gorni and Enrico Ghidetti.
Quaderni degli “Studi Danteschi”
1. D. De Robertis, Il libro della "Vita Nuova", 2nd edition, enlarged, pp. 290.
2. F. Mazzoni, Contributi di filologia dantesca, 1st series, pp. 294.
3. F. Mazzoni, Contributi di filologia dantesca. Con Dante per Dante e altro, 2nd e 3rd series (in preparation).
4. F. Mazzoni, Saggio di un nuovo commento alla "Divina Commedia". Inferno canti I-III, pp. XII-358.
5. G. Vandelli, Per il testo della "Divina Commedia", edited by R. Abardo. Introductory essay by F. Mazzoni, pp. XVIII-346, 13 plates.
6. B. Nardi, "Lecturae" e altri studi danteschi, edited by R. Abardo. Introductory essays by F. Mazzoni and A. Vallone, pp. 318, 12 plates.
7. A. Chiari, Saggi danteschi e altri studi (1980-1990), pp. VII-273.
8. A. Vallone, Percorsi danteschi, pp. 237.
9. C. Vasoli, Otto saggi per Dante, pp. 238.
10. M. Chiamenti, Dante Alighieri traduttore, pp. 266.
11. Omaggio a Beatrice (1290-1990). Proceedings of the Day Devoted to Study in Florence on December 15th, 1990, pp. 174.
12. P. Rajna, La materia e la forma della "Divina Commedia". I mondi oltraterreni nelle letterature classiche e medioevali, introduction, edition and commentary by C. Di Fonzo, introductory remarks by F. Mazzoni, pp. CXXVI, 384.
13. D. De Robertis, Dal primo all'ultimo Dante, indices by R. Leporatti, pp. VII, 216.
14. G. Savino, Dante e dintorni, edited by M. Boschi Rotiroti, Introductory essay by F. Mazzoni, pp. XLI-360, 18 plates.
15. G. Marrani, Con Dante dopo Dante. Studi sulla prima fortuna del Dante “lirico” , pp. 304.
16. Con Francesco Mazzoni. Chiose inedite a “Paradiso” I-XI. Proceedings of the Meeting (Florence, November 14th 2007, Palazzo Vecchio-Salone de’ Dugento), pp. XLIV-438, 8 plates.
Quaderni del "Centro di studi e documentazione dantesca e medievale"
1. M. Corti, Dante a un nuovo crocevia, pp. 112.
2. Studi offerti a Gianfranco Contini dagli allievi pisani. Presentation by F. Mazzoni, pp. X-246, 17 plates.
3. S. Mazzoni Peruzzi, Il codice laurenziano Acquisti e Doni 153 del "Roman de la Rose", pp. 108, 25 plates in color, 6 b/w plates.
4. F. Villani, Expositio seu comentum super "Comedia" Dantis Allegherii, edited by S. Bellomo, pp. 216
5. G. Mezzadroli, Seneca in Dante. Dalla tradizione medievale all’officina dell’autore, pp. 144.
6. Pio Rajna e le letterature neolatine. Proceedings of the International Congress of Studies. Sondrio, September 24th-25th, 1983, edited by R. Abardo, pp. 227, 1 plate.
7. Seminario Dantesco Internazionale. International Dante Seminar 1. Proceedings of the First Congress at the Chauncey Conference Center, Princeton, October 21st-23rd, 1994, edited by Z. G. Barański, pp. VI-396.
Manoscritti Danteschi e di Interesse Dantesco
1. B. Banchi. - A. Stefanin, La “Commedia”: i codici della Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, pp. 128.
2. M. Boschi Rotiroti, Codicologia trecentesca della "Commedia". Entro e oltre l’antica vulgata, Roma, Viella, 2004, pp. 170, 100 tavv. f.t. (“Scritture e libri del Medioevo”, 2, directed by M. Palma).
3. M. Boschi Rotiroti, Censimento dei manoscritti della “Commedia”. Firenze, Biblioteche Riccardiana e Moreniana, Società Dantesca Italiana, Roma, Viella, 2008, pp. 181, 64 plates.
Studi su Dante
1. U. Carpi, La nobiltà di Dante, Firenze, Polistampa, 2004, pp. 455.
Dantesca
1. G. Gorni, Guido Cavalcanti. Dante e il suo “primo amico”, Roma, Aracne, 2009, pp. 140.
Books not included in these series
• Le Opere di Dante, critical text of the Società Dantesca Italiana, edited by M. Barbi, E. G. Parodi, F. Pellegrini, E. Pistelli, P. Rajna, E. Rostagno, G. Vandelli, with index of nouns and things by M. Casella, Florence, in the Seat of the Society, 1960 (2nd ed.).
• Guido da Pisa, Declaratio super Comediam Dantis. Critical edition by F. Mazzoni, Florence, Società Dantesca Italiana, 1970.
• Bibliografia degli scritti di Gianfranco Contini, Florence, Società Dantesca Italiana, 1973.
• Atti del Convegno internazionale di Studi danteschi, edited by the Commune of Ravenna and the Società Dantesca Italiana (Ravenna, September 10th-12th, 1971), Ravenna, Longo, 1979, pp. 277.
• Giovanni Boccaccio editore e interprete di Dante. Proceedings of the congress held in Florence and Certaldo, April 19th-20th, 1975, edited by the Società Dantesca Italiana, Florence, Olschki, 1979, pp. 120.
• La Società Dantesca Italiana 1888-1988, International Congress. Florence, November 24th-26th, 1988, edited by R. Abardo, Milano-Napoli, Ricciardi, 1995, pp. 605.
• Società Dantesca Italiana, Manoscritto n. 3, Città di Castello, Edimond, 1997 (volume issued with the support of the "Committee for the Celebrations of the fifth centenary of the death of Lorenzo il Magnifico"), pp. XXVIII, 376.
• D. De Robertis, Per una cittadinanza dantesca. Considerazioni sulla lingua della “Commedia”, Florence, Le Lettere, 1997, pp.19.
• Scritti offerti a Francesco Mazzoni dagli allievi fiorentini, Florence, Società Dantesca Italiana, 1998, pp. 126.
• Sotto il segno di Dante. Writings in Francesco Mazzoni's honour, edited by L. Coglievina and D. De Robertis, Florence, Le Lettere, 1998, pp. XLVIII, 368.
• G. Savino, L'autografo virtuale della "Commedia", Florence, Società Dantesca Italiana, 2000, pp. 11 + 6 plates.
• D. Alighieri, Monarchia edited by P. Shaw, Birmingham, SDE-Scholarly Digital Editions – Società Dantesca Italiana, 2006, DVD-ROM.