Alighieri Dante Rev Henry Boyd (4 results)

Half-Leather. Condition: Good. T Stothard (illustrator). 1st Edition. A good to very good copy of the first translation into English of Dante's Divine Comedy. This copy retains the original marbled boards, with new calf spines and corners, so the bindings are clean, sound and tight with some light scuffing to the boards. The translation was completed by Henry Boyd, then Vicar of Rathfryland in County Down. The contents are complete with frontispiece portrait by Stothard and titles and half titles to each volume. Vol I: frontispiece; title; dedication; half title to Inferno; text 408pp. Vol II: title; half title; preliminary essay and text 384pp. Vol III: title; half title; preliminary essay and text with index, errata and addenda 420pp (more detailed collation available on request). All the volumes retain their original endpapers with repair at the joints and stamped ownership details of Richd Hopkins of Huntingdonshire. All the endpapers have some marking and Vol II has lost the corner tip of the rear free endpaper. Contents overall are clean with some browning and spotting at times, particularly noticeable at the beginning of Vol II where there tends to be mottling in the top outer corner and the paper is a little fragile there, and brown toning to later leaves. Vol I has a brown mark in top margin of pp 156/7, possibly from an old page marker. Vol III has professional paper repair to the bottom corner of p 229. Please enquire if you would like to see further images.

Condition: Near Fine. First Complete Edition in English. First edition of the first full translation of Dante's Divine Comedy into English. Octavo. Three volumes bound in contemporary full calf with gilt stamping and raised bands to spine. Light rubbing to bindings, darkening to spines; shallow chip to head of Volume III. Tanning and light foxing to interiors, particularly the title page of Volume I, joints repaired at an early date, usual wear and toning due to age; last textual leaf of Volume II is partially detached along the top half. Housed in a custom chemise slipcase with green gilt-stamped morocco spine over green cloth. An important edition which brought Dante's epic work to an English speaking audience for the first time in its completeness, also marking the first publication in English of the Purgatorio and the Paradiso; the Inferno is here is in its fourth publication in English, following the first edition of 1782, and Boyd's 1785 Dublin and London editions. This edition was also instrumental in "assisting to re-establish an audience for Dante, whose reputation had suffered a decline in the previous century." A fantastic set in a beautiful contemporary binding, housed in a custom slipcase.

First English language edition. The first complete translation into English of Dante's "Divine Comedy." Bound in recent, full maroon straight-grained morocco, smooth spines ruled and titled in gilt, marbled end papers, all edges sprinkled red. The odd spot or bit of foxing internally, heaviest in the third volume, but an excellent set overall. Three 8vo volumes (pages 211 x 132 mm), collating: vi, [2], 408; [ii], 56, [ii (divisional title)], 57-62, 65-384 (complete); [ii], 420pp., engraved frontispiece portrait plate of Dante by Thomas Stothard in vol.1; complete. One of the world's great masterpieces and a foundational text of Italian literature. The Comedy took over a decade for Dante to write, he worked on it in exile, having been sent out of his native Florence in 1302, when his political faction fell out of favor. The work's genius was quickly recognized -- Boccaccio himself was so obsessed with it that he was responsible for adding the prefix "Divine." Over the years, it has influenced countless writers, among them Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, and James Joyce. Borges claimed it was "the best book literature has achieved." Boyd (1748/49 - 1832), a member of the Irish clergy, was responsible for the first English translation of the Inferno in 1785 as well as the complete work in this 1802 edition. His translation would help bring Dante back into literary circles after he had fallen by the critical wayside in the aftermath of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. The Divine Comedy soon regained its popularity; before the 19th century was up Longfellow would also try his hand at a translation and William Blake would make drawings of some of its more famous passages.

First English language edition. The first complete translation into English of Dante's "Divine Comedy." Bound in full contemporary calf. Boards ruled in gilt with decorative blindstamped borders. Armorial insignia of the Dunalley baronage blindstamped on the front of each board. Marbled end papers and text block. Spines joints and corners repaired. Internally clean and fresh, with Catherine Dunalley's name written in pencil on the title page of each volume (wife of Henry Prittie, 1st Baron Dunalley). A handsome set overall. Three 8vo volumes (pages 215 x 128 mm), collating: vi, [2], 408; [ii], 56, [ii (divisional title)], 57-62, 65-384 (complete); [ii], 420pp., engraved frontispiece portrait plate of Dante by Thomas Stothard in vol.1; complete. One of the world's great masterpieces and a foundational text of Italian literature. The Comedy took over a decade for Dante to write, he worked on it in exile, having been sent out of his native Florence in 1302, when his political faction fell out of favor. The work's genius was quickly recognized -- Boccaccio himself was so obsessed with it that he was responsible for adding the prefix "Divine." Over the years, it has influenced countless writers, among them Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, and James Joyce. Borges claimed it was "the best book literature has achieved." Boyd (1748/49 - 1832), a member of the Irish clergy, released his first English translation of the Inferno in 1785, following up with the complete work in this 1802 edition. His translation would help bring Dante back into literary circles after he had fallen by the critical wayside in the aftermath of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. The Divine Comedy soon regained its popularity; before the 19th century was up Longfellow would also try his hand at a translation and William Blake would make drawings of some of its more famous passages.