Dante’s Works:— _Inf._ Inferno. _Purg._ Purgatorio. _Par._ Paradiso. _Canz._ Canzone. _Son._ Sonetto. _Ball._ Ballata. _Ecl._ Eclogue. _V. N._ Vita Nuova. _Conv._ Convivio. _De Mon._ De Monarchia. _V. E._ De Vulgari Eloquentia. _Ep._ Epistola. _Qu._ Quæstio de Aqua et Terra. _El. Ast._ Elementa Astronomica (Alfraganus). _Comp. del Mond._ Della Composizione del Mondo (Ristoro). DANTE AND THE EARLY ASTRONOMERS. INTRODUCTION. In a beautiful passage of the _Convivio_ Dante describes how he first began to devote himself diligently to science and philosophy. When the gentle soul of Beatrice had passed to heaven, a great darkness fell upon him: the streets of Florence were to him as a deserted city, and his life empty and purposeless. It was long before he could find any comfort, but at last he bethought himself of studying a book by Boëthius, who when exiled, imprisoned, and unjustly condemned to death, had strengthened his soul with the “Consolations of Philosophy.” This led him on to Cicero’s book “On Friendship,” in which Lælius explains how he is consoled for the death of Scipio. Books in those days could only be had in manuscript, full of abbreviations, and often also of errors, and at first the young student found the Latin hard to master; but as he struggled on, half deciphering and half divining the meaning, the mists cleared a little, and the weight was lifted from brain and heart. With elation he discovered that obscure passages were becoming luminous, and to the exhilarating sense of conquest was added the joy of finding, beautifully expressed, thoughts which had already floated in his own mind, but dimly, as in a dream. He compares himself to one who, seeking silver, should light (not without Divine guidance) on a treasure of gold; for he found not only relief from his tears, but a door into a new world of literature, philosophy, and science. Henceforth, he tells us, he eagerly frequented the schools of the religious orders and the discussions of the philosophers; and how extensive and thorough was his learning we can see in his writings. In them we find a reflection of thirteenth-century thought in every field of intellectual research.