greatest; and he unites mediaeval Dantology with England’s cult of the divine poet in the first complete edition of his commentary which was given to the world by Lacaita and William Warren Vernon. In his proem, Ser Graziolo, or his contemporary translator, strikes the keynote of all reverent criticism of the _Divina Commedia_, and defines the attitude in which the divine poet and his works should be approached: “Although the unsearchable Providence of God hath made many men blessed with prudence and virtue, yet before all hath it put Dante Alighieri, a man of noble and profound wisdom, true fosterling of philosophy and lofty poet, the author of this marvellous, singular, and most sapient work. It hath made him a shining light of spiritual felicity and of knowledge to the people and cities of the world, in order that every science, whether of heavenly or of earthly things, should be amply gathered up in this public and famous champion of prudence, and through him be made manifest to the desires of men in witness of the Divine Wisdom; so that, by the new sweetness and universal matter of his song, he should draw the souls of his hearers to self-knowledge, and that, raised above earthly desires, they should come to know not only the beauties of this great author, but should attain to still higher grades of knowledge. To him can be applied the text in Ecclesiasticus: ‘The great Lord will fill him with the spirit of understanding, and he will pour forth the words of his wisdom as showers.’” FOOTNOTES: [1] _V. N._ xxx. _Cf._ Moore, _Studies in Dante_, ii. pp. 123, 124. Del Lungo and others calculate the date as June 19th. [2] Two daughters are mentioned: Antonia and Beatrice. It is probable that they are one and the same person, Antonia being the name in the world of the daughter who became a nun at Ravenna as “Suora Beatrice.” A recent discovery has revealed the existence of a Giovanni di Dante Alighieri, “Johannes filius Dantis Alagherii de Florentia,” at Lucca in October 1308, who would then have been at least fourteen years old. But it seems more probable that the “Dante Alighieri” in question is not the poet. See M. Barbi, _Un altro figlio di Dante?_ in _Studi danteschi, v._ (Florence, 1922). [3] It is to this conspiracy, as initiating the papal interference in Florentine politics which led ultimately to Dante’s own exile, that the poet alludes in _Par._ xvii. 49-51, where Cacciaguida speaks from the standpoint of April 1300. [4] See B. Barbadoro, _La condanna di Dante_, in _Studi danteschi diretti da_ Michele Barbi, vol. ii. [5] Cf. Del Lungo’s notes to _La Cronica di Dino Compagni_ in the new Muratori (tom. ix. pt. ii.), and Luzzatto, _La Cronica di Dino Compagni_, p. 70, n. 1. It is clear that both Bologna and Siena sent ambassadors, but that Compagni (misled by the name) erroneously supposed Malavolti to have been a Sienese.