NOTE BY THE TRANSLATOR
This translation, which was first published in 1890, has been thoroughly revised in consequence of the publication by the Italian Dante Society of Prof. Rajna's edition of the original Latin text in 1896, followed by the smaller edition of the same in 1897. There are some important differences between the two editions, and where they occur, the text of the smaller edition has been followed in the translation. In the preparation of the notes considerable use has been made of Dr Paget Toynbee's Dante Dictionary, and I am also much indebted to this eminent authority for information communicated to me privately. I must further acknowledge my special obligation to E. Böhmer's monograph Ueber Dante's Schrift De Vulgari Eloquentia (Halle, 1868). I have in many difficult passages adopted his explanations. The notes to Rajna's larger edition, though exclusively concerned with points of textual criticism, incidentally throw light on the interpretation of the text, and I have not failed to take account of them. I have also made use of Prof. Saintsbury's most interesting chapter on Dante in the second volume of his History of Criticism which contains an able and suggestive analysis of the De Vulgari Eloquentia.
*** See postscript on page 427.
