Medieval Culture: An Introduction to Dante & His Times by Karl Vossler 1929 First Edition Two Volume Hardcover Set A Divine Comedy Reference

Medieval Culture: An Introduction to Dante & His Times by Karl Vossler 1929 First Edition Two Volume Hardcover Set A Divine Comedy Reference

<Condition is Good as Pictured> (normal wear with markings, underlining/marginalia throughout the book in pencil, bumped/rubbed corners, visible edge-wear, spines are faded/sunned, some folded page corners, previous owners name written inside the front covers)

—The Literary Backround and the Poetry of “The Divine Comedy”
This monumental study of the background of Dante's Divine Comedy, with its brilliant analysis of the great poem itself, is truly "one of the most fascinating accounts available of the great Italian as a personality and of that combination of influences which brought his genius to its outflowering."

⬇️PREFACE⬇️
This book is intended to open up to a wider circle of intelligent readers the comprehension of the Divine Comedy. The essential facts in the history of culture out of which the poem takes its rise must first be considered; then the poem itself in all its poetic originality, in its unique character as a work of art. In the first part the background of the poet in the religion, philosophy, ethical and political thought, and imaginative literature of the Middle Ages is discussed; in the second part, his work alone. Hence the second part can be enjoyed, perhaps can best be enjoyed, apart from the first, for the first part takes for granted a thorough familiarity with the poem; and those who do not feel that they possess this familiarity might very well begin by reading the second part first. The introductory chapter on Dante and Goethe may also be left to the last, at least by those who do not bring to the reading a considerable acquaintance with both poets.

But Dante sums up so many sides of his own age, and the study of his background carries us over so wide a field, that a work such as this may very well serve as a gateway to the study of mediæval culture in all its manifold activities. It is for this reason that I have submitted to the suggestion of others and permitted this book (which in the original is simply called Die göttliche Komödie) to go forth in its English dress under the more general title of Medical Culture: An Introduction to Dante and his Times. It is that in a real sense perhaps, but only as an afterthought and within definite limits, for my primary aim has been to bring home to the mind and heart of my readers the great poem of Dante itself.
The present work has been translated from the second German edition, which differs materially from the first, especially in the interpretation of the Purgatorio and the Paradiso.! I have been as sparing as possible in citing authorities, for I did not wish my narrative nes which appeared in the es and foot. notes. Even the references which appeared in the original have been for the most part eliminated in this translation, since they were so largely concerned with German authorities. In place of these, my friend, Mr. J. E. Spingarn, has kindly prepared, for the benefit of studious but inerudite readers, a Bibliographical Note which is intended merely as a guide to the literature available in English, but which indirectly, by reference to ample bibliographical material, points the way to the whole literature of the subject. I had hoped that he would write an Introduction to this translation, but he felt that a bibliography would be more useful to the reader. It would afford me great pleasure if those who speak the noble tongue which has produced the vast literature he has there recorded would give a friendly welcome to the present work… KARL VOSSLER

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