List of English translations of the Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is an epic poem in Italian written between 1308 and 1321 that describes its author's journey through the Christian afterlife.[1] The three cantiche[lower-roman 1] of the poem, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, describe hell, purgatory, and heaven respectively. The poem is considered one of the greatest works of world literature[2] and helped establish Dante's Tuscan dialect as the standard form of the Italian language.[3] It has been translated over 400 times into at least 52 different languages.[4]

Eight bookshelves stacked on top of each other containing translations of the Divine Comedy arranged for display
A room in Dante's House Museum containing many translations of the Divine Comedy into different languages

Though English poets Geoffrey Chaucer and John Milton referenced and partially translated Dante's works in the 14th and 17th centuries respectively,[5][6] it took until the early 19th century for the first full English translation of the Divine Comedy to be published.[7] This was over 300 years after the first Latin (1416),[8] Spanish (1515),[4] and French (1500s)[9] translations had been written. By 1906, Dante scholar Paget Toynbee calculated that the Divine Comedy had been touched upon by over 250 translators[10] and sixty years later bibliographer Gilbert F. Cunningham observed that the frequency of English Dante translations was increasing with time.[11] As of 2022, the Divine Comedy has been translated into English more times than it has been translated into any other language.[4]

List of translations

A complete listing and criticism of all English translations of at least one of the three cantiche (parts) was made by Cunningham in 1966.[12] The table below summarises Cunningham's data with additions between 1966 and the present, many of which are taken from the Dante Society of America's yearly North American bibliography[13] and Società Dantesca Italiana's international bibliography.[14] Many more translations of individual lines or cantos[lower-roman 2] exist,[15] but these are too numerous for the scope of this list.

List of translations
PublishedTranslatorNationality Publisher(s)Parts translatedForm[lower-roman 3]Notes
1782Charles RogersUnited Kingdom J. NicholsInfernoBlank verseFirst translation of a full cantica into English. Initially published anonymously[17]
1785–1802Henry BoydUnited Kingdom C. Dilly Comedy i.e. all three partsRhymed 6-line stanzasFirst full translation of the Divine Comedy in English
1805–1814Henry Francis CaryUnited Kingdom James Carpenter ComedyBlank verseVolume 20 in the Harvard Classics series. Reprinted by Bohn's Library in 1850 and Chandos Classics in 1871

Described by The Cambridge Companion to Dante as the first "powerful, accurate, and poetically moving" translation. Became a bestseller and was required in schools[18]

1807Nathaniel HowardUnited Kingdom John MurrayInfernoBlank verse
1812Joseph HumeUnited Kingdom T. Cadell and W. DaviesInfernoBlank verse
1833–1840Ichabod Charles WrightUnited Kingdom Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & LongmanComedyRhymed 6-line stanzas
1843–1865John DaymanUnited Kingdom Longmans, Green, and Co.ComedyTerza rima
1843–1893Thomas William ParsonsUnited States De Vries, Ibarra and Company; Houghton, Mifflin and Company Comedy (incomplete)Quatrains and irregular rhyme
1849John Aitken CarlyleUnited Kingdom Chapman and Hall InfernoProseReprinted by J.M. Dent and Sons and edited by Hermann Oelsner for their Temple Classics line in 1900
1850Patrick BannermanUnited Kingdom William Blackwood and SonsComedyIrregular rhyme
1851–1854Charles Bagot CayleyUnited Kingdom Longmans, Brown, Green, and LongmansComedyTerza rima
1852E. O'DonnellUnited Kingdom Thomas Richardson and SonComedyProse
1854Thomas BrooksbankUnited Kingdom John W. Parker and SonInfernoTerza rima
1854Sir William Frederick PollockUnited Kingdom Chapman and HallComedyBlank tercets
1859Bruce WhyteUnited Kingdom Wright & Co.; Simpkin, Marshall, & CoInfernoIrregular rhyme
1859–1866John Wesley ThomasUnited Kingdom Henry G. BohnComedyTerza rima
1862William Patrick WilkieUnited Kingdom Edmonston and DouglasInfernoBlank tercets
1862–1863Claudia Hamilton Ramsay[lower-roman 4]United Kingdom Tinsley BrothersComedyTerza rima
1865William Michael RossettiUnited Kingdom Macmillan and Co.InfernoBlank tercets
1865–1870James FordUnited Kingdom Smith, Elder & Co.ComedyTerza rima
1867Henry Wadsworth LongfellowUnited States Ticknor and Fields and Bernhard TauchnitzComedyBlank tercetsFirst complete translation by an American author. Highly praised upon publication[20] and remains one of the most commonly reprinted translations in both the United States and the United Kingdom[21]
1867–1868David JohnstonUnited Kingdom Self-publishedComedyBlank tercetsNever placed on sale; the author sent copies directly to libraries and friends[22]
1877Charles TomlinsonUnited Kingdom S.W. Partridge and Co.InfernoTerza rima
1880–1892Arthur John ButlerUnited Kingdom Macmillan and Co.ComedyProse
1881Warburton PikeUnited Kingdom C. Kegan Paul & Co.InfernoTerza rima
1883William Stratford DugdaleUnited Kingdom George Bell & SonsPurgatorioProse
1884James Romanes SibbaldUnited Kingdom David DouglasInfernoTerza rima
1885James Innes MinchinUnited Kingdom Longmans, Green, and Co.ComedyTerza rima
1886–1887Edward Hayes PlumptreUnited Kingdom Wm. Isbister LimitedComedyTerza rima
1887Frederick Kneller Haselfoot HaselfootUnited Kingdom Kegan Paul, Trench & Co.ComedyTerza rima
1888John Augustine WilstachUnited States Houghton, Mifflin and CompanyComedyRhymed stanzas
1889–1900William Warren VernonUnited Kingdom Macmillan & Co.ComedyProse
1891–1892Charles Eliot NortonUnited States Houghton, Mifflin and CompanyComedyProse
1892–1915Charles Lancelot ShadwellUnited Kingdom Macmillan & Co.Purgatorio and ParadisoMarvellian stanzas
1893George MusgraveUnited Kingdom Swan Sonnenschein & Co.InfernoSpenserian stanzas
1893Edward Sullivan[lower-roman 5]United Kingdom Elliot StockInfernoProse
1895Robert UrquhartUnited Kingdom Privately printedInfernoTerza rimaBibliographer Gilbert F. Cunningham inferred that "Macmillan [& Co.] arranged for the production of the book, but decided not to publish it"[24]
1898Eugene Jacob Lee-HamiltonUnited Kingdom Grant RichardsInfernoHendecasyllabic blank tercets
1899Philip Henry WicksteedUnited Kingdom J.M. Dent & SonsParadisoProseEdited by Herman Oelsner for Temple Classics
1899Arthur Compton AuchmutyUnited Kingdom Williams and NorgatePurgatorioOctosyllabic terza rima
1899–1901Samuel HomeUnited Kingdom Woodall, Minshall, and Co.Purgatorio (incomplete: I–XXXI only)Hendecasyllabic blank tercets
1901 Thomas Okey United Kingdom J.M. Dent & Sons Purgatorio Prose Edited by Herman Oelsner for Temple Classics
1901John Carpenter GarnierUnited Kingdom Truslove, Hanson & CombeInfernoProse
1902Edward Clarke LoweUnited Kingdom G. H. TyndallComedyBlank tercets
1903–1909Edward WilberforceUnited Kingdom Macmillan and Co.ComedyTerza rima
1903–1911Sir Samuel Walker GriffithUnited Kingdom Powell and Co.ComedyHendecasyllabic blank tercets
1904Caroline C. PotterUnited Kingdom Digby, Long & Co.Purgatorio and ParadisoRhymed quatrains
1904Henry Fanshawe TozerUnited Kingdom Clarendon PressComedyProse
1904Marvin Richardson VincentUnited States Charles Scribner's SonsInfernoBlank verse
1905Charles Gordon WrightUnited Kingdom Methuen & Co.PurgatorioProse
1908Frances Isabella FraserUnited Kingdom S.W. SimmsParadisoBlank tercets
1910Agnes Louisa MoneyUnited Kingdom George Allen & SonsPurgatorioBlank tercets
1911Charles Edwin WheelerUnited Kingdom J.M. Dent & SonsComedyTerza rima
1914Edith Mary ShawUnited Kingdom Constable and CompanyComedyBlank verse
1915Edward Joshua EdwardesUnited Kingdom Women's Printing SocietyInfernoBlank tercets
1915Sir Samuel GriffithAustralia Oxford University PressComedyUnrhymed hendecasyllabic verseFirst translation by an Australian author[25]
1915Henry JohnsonUnited States Yale University Press; Humphrey Milford, Oxford University PressComedyBlank tercets
1918–1921Courtney LangdonUnited States Harvard University PressComedyBlank verse
1920Eleanor Vinton MurrayUnited States Self-publishedInfernoTerza rima
1921Melville Best AndersonUnited States World Book Company; Yonkers-on-Hydon; George G. Harrap & Co.ComedyTerza rimaReprinted in Oxford World's Classics with an introduction from Paget Toynbee in 1932
1922Henry John HooperUnited Kingdom George Routledge and SonsInfernoAmphibrachic tetrameter
1927David James MacKenzieUnited Kingdom Longmans, Green and Co.ComedyTerza rima
1928–1931Albert R. BandiniUnited States (born in Italy) The People's Publishing Co.ComedyTerza rima
1928–1954Sydney Fowler WrightUnited Kingdom Fowler Wright Ltd.; Oliver and BoydInferno and PurgatorioIrregularly rhymed decasyllables
1931Jefferson Butler FletcherUnited States The Macmillan CompanyComedyDefective terza rima
1931Lacy LockertUnited States Princeton University PressInfernoTerza rima
1932–1935Geoffrey Langdale BickerstethUnited Kingdom Cambridge University PressComedyTerza rima
1933–1943Laurence BinyonUnited Kingdom Macmillan and Co.ComedyTerza rima
1934–1940Louis HowUnited States The Harbor PressComedyTerza rima
1938Ralph Thomas BodeyUnited Kingdom Harold CleaverComedyBlank verse
1939–1946John Dickson SinclairUnited Kingdom The Bodley HeadComedyProseRepublished by Oxford University Press in 1948
1948Lawrence Grant WhiteUnited States Pantheon BooksComedyBlank verse
1948Patrick CumminsUnited States B. Herder Book Co.ComedyHendecasyllabic terza rima
1949–1953Harry Morgan AyresUnited States S. F. VanniComedyProse
1949–1962Dorothy L. SayersUnited Kingdom Penguin BooksComedyTerza rimaPrinted in Penguin Classics. After Sayers' death in 1957, the final cantos of Paradiso were completed by Barbara Reynolds.
1952Thomas Weston RamseyUnited Kingdom The Hand and Flower PressParadisoDefective terza rima
1954Howard Russell HuseUnited States RinehartComedyProse
1954–1970John CiardiUnited States New American LibraryComedyDefective terza rimaAudio version of Inferno recorded and released by Folkways Records in 1954[26]
1956Glen Levin SwiggettUnited States University Press of the University of the SouthComedyTerza rima
1958Mary Prentice LillieUnited States Grabhorn PressComedyHendecasyllabic blank tercets
1961Warwick Fielding ChipmanUnited Kingdom Oxford University PressInfernoTerza rima
1962Clara Stillman ReedUnited States Self-publishedComedyProse
1965William F. EnnisUnited Kingdom Il Campo EditoreComedyDodecasyllabic terza rima
1965Aldo MaugeriItaly La SiciliaInfernoBlank tercets
1966 Louis Biancolli United States Washington Square Press Comedy Blank verse
1966 G. W. Greene United States Italica Inferno (incomplete) Blank verse Contains only thirty-one of the Inferno's thirty-four cantos; Greene died in 1883 without publishing the work[27]
1966 BBC Third Programme United Kingdom British Broadcasting Corporation Inferno
Contains work from twelve translators who presented their translations on the BBC Third Programme[28]
1967–2002Mark MusaUnited States Penguin BooksComedyBlank verseSecond Penguin Classics translation
1969Thomas Goddard BerginUnited States Grossman PublishersComedyBlank verse
1969 Allan Gilbert United States Duke University Press Inferno Prose
1970–1975Charles S. SingletonUnited States Princeton University PressComedyProseLiteral prose translation. Published as six volumes, with one volume of translation facing Italian text and one volume of commentary for each cantica
1979 Kenneth R. Mackenzie United Kingdom The Folio Society Comedy Contains engravings from John Flaxman
1980–1984Allen MandelbaumUnited States Bantam BooksComedyBlank verseMandelbaum was awarded a Gold Medal of Honor from the city of Florence for his translation.[29] Certain editions contain illustrations from Barry Moser.
1981C. H. SissonUnited Kingdom Oxford World's ClassicsComedyFree tercets
1983 Tom Phillips United Kingdom Waddington Graphics Inferno Contains original prints by Phillips
1985 Nicholas Kilmer United States Branden Publishing Co. Inferno Blank verse[30]
1987 James Finn Cotter United States Amity House Comedy Blank verse
1990 Tibor Wlassics Hungary (published and written in the United States) In Print Inc. Inferno Blank verse
1993 James S. Torrens, S.J. United States University of Scranton Press; University of London Press: University of Toronto Press Paradiso Blank verse
1994Steve EllisUnited Kingdom Chatto & Windus[31]InfernoBlank verse
1994 Stephen Wentworth Arndt United States The Edwin Mellen Press Comedy Terza rima
1994Robert PinskyUnited States Farrar, Straus and GirouxInfernoTerza rima
1996Peter DaleUnited Kingdom Anvil Press PoetryComedyTerza rima
1996–2007Robert M. DurlingUnited States Oxford University PressComedyProse
1997–1998 Kathryn Lindskoog United States Mercer University Press Comedy Prose Advertised as a "retelling" rather than direct translation
1998 Elio Zappulla United States Random House Inferno Blank verse
2000 Stanley Appelbaum United States Dover Publications Comedy (partial) Free verse Contains a total of thirty-three cantos selected from different cantiche
2000 Armand Schwerner United States Talisman House Inferno (incomplete) Blank verse Contains only twelve cantos; Schwerner died before he could finish the translation[32]
2000W. S. MerwinUnited States KnopfPurgatorioBlank verse
2000A. S. KlineUnited States Poetry in translationComedyProse
2000–2007Robert and Jean HollanderUnited States Anchor BooksComedyFree verse[33]Known for its extensive scholarly notes; the full text is over 600 pages.[34] The Hollanders were given a Gold Florin award from the city of Florence for their translation.[35]
2002Ciaran CarsonIreland Granta BooksInfernoTerza rima
2002–2008Michael PalmaUnited States W.W. NortonComedyTerza rima
2002–2004Anthony M. EsolenUnited States Modern Library ClassicsComedyBlank verse
2005–2012J. Gordon NicholsUnited Kingdom Alma BooksComedyDefective terza rima
2006–2007Robin KirkpatrickUnited Kingdom Penguin BooksComedyBlank verseThird Penguin Classics translation
2007 Frank Salvidio iUniverse (self-published) Inferno Free tercets
2007–2017 Tom Simone United States Focus-Hackett Publishing Comedy Free verse
2009–2017Stanley LombardoUnited States Hackett ClassicsComedyBlank tercets
2010Burton RaffelUnited States Northwestern World ClassicsComedyTerza rima
2011 Robert M. Torrance United States Xlibris (self-published) Inferno Terza rima
2013–2021Mary Jo BangUnited States Graywolf PressInferno, Purgatorio (Paradiso in progress as of November 2021[36])Free verseText of poem contains anachronistic references to figures such as Sigmund Freud, Vladimir Mayakovsky, and Stephen Colbert[37]
2013Clive JamesAustralia (written in the United Kingdom) PicadorComedyQuatrains
2017Peter ThorntonUnited States Arcade PublishingInfernoBlank verse
2018–2020Alasdair GrayUnited Kingdom Canongate BooksComedyProsaic verseRenders "Ghibelline" and "Guelph" as "Tory" and "Whig" respectively
2020–2021David Macleod BlackUnited Kingdom (born in South Africa) New York Review BooksPurgatorioBlank verse
2021 Gerald J. Davis Insignia Publishing Comedy Prose
2022J. Simon HarrisUnited States Nostra Vita BooksInfernoTerza rima
2022 Joe Carlson United States Roman Roads Press Inferno Blank Verse

See also

Notes
  1. Latin-derived term for the three parts of the Divine Comedy. The singular form is cantica.
  2. Each cantica is divided into thirty-three or thirty-four cantos so that the Comedy has a total of one hundred
  3. The Divine Comedy was originally written in hendecasyllabic terza rima, eleven syllable long lines and a rhyme scheme of aba bcb cdc... yzy z. Most English translations that attempt to replicate the rhyme scheme replace the hendecasyllables with iambic pentameter, a ten-syllable form more common in English-language poetry. Many translations use a simplified rhyme scheme of aba cdc efe..., described by Cunningham and listed here as "defective terza rima".[16]
  4. Born Claudia Hamilton Garden. Used pen name "Mrs. Ramsay"[19]
  5. Son of Sir Edward Sullivan, 1st Baronet[23]

References
  1. Delmolino 2017.
  2. Bloom 1994.
  3. Lepschy 1977.
  4. Tavoni 2022.
  5. Chaucer 2008, Section 7.6: "Whoever wants to hear [the tale of Ugolino] in a longer version, read the great poet of Italy who is called Dante, for he can all narrate in great detail; not one word will he lack".
  6. Milton 1641, p. 30: "Dante in his 19. Canto of Inferno hath thus, as I will render it you in English blank Verse. 'Ah Constantine, of how much ill was cause / Not thy Conversion, but those rich demaines / That the first wealthy Pope receiv'd of thee.' So in his 20. Canto of Paradise hee makes the like complaint".
  7. Jacoff 1993.
  8. Zanobini 2016.
  9. Holekamp 1985.
  10. Hainsworth 2018.
  11. Cunningham 1966.
  12. Cunningham 1966, pp. v.2 5-9.
  13. "American Dante Bibliography". Dante Society of America. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  14. "Bibliografia Internazionale Dantesca" [International Dante Bibliography]. Retrieved 12 November 2022. For a multilingual list of translations, see Dante Alighieri > Works > Commedia (Comedy) > Editions > Complete work
  15. Toynbee 1921, See pages 156–280 for a comprehensive list of English Dante translations up to 1921, including single lines and cantos.
  16. Cunningham 1954, pp. 115, 177.
  17. Cunningham 1954, p. 28.
  18. Jacoff 1993, p. 245-246.
  19. Gifra, Pere. "An eye for detail - 01 Nov 2015". Catalonia Today. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  20. "Longfellow's Translation of Dante's Divina Commedia". The Atlantic. 1 August 1867. Retrieved 12 November 2022. It is not to Mr. Longfellow's reputation only that these volumes will add, but to that of American literature. It is no little thing to be able to say, that, in a field in which some of England's great poets have signally failed, an American poet has signally succeeded ; that what the scholars of the Old World asserted to be impossible, a scholar of the New World has accomplished ; and that the first to tread in this new path has impressed his footprints so deeply therein, that, however numerous his followers may be, they will all unite in hailing him...
  21. Cunningham 1954, p. 229.
  22. Cunningham 1954, p. 255.
  23. Cunningham 1954, p. 406.
  24. Cunningham 1954, p. 428.
  25. Cooper 1989.
  26. "The Inferno (Dante Alighieri): The Immortal Drama of a Journey through Hell". folkways.si.edu. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  27. Harrison 1966.
  28. "American Dante Bibliography for 1967 | Dante Society". www.dantesociety.org. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  29. Grimes 2011.
  30. Hollander, Robert (26 August 2003). "Translating Dante into English Again and Again". Divine Comedies for the New Millennium: 43–48. doi:10.1017/9789048505241.003. ISBN 9789048505241.
  31. Josephine Balmer (13 March 1994). "BOOK REVIEW / The lost in translation: 'Hell' - Dante Alighieri". The Independent. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
  32. "American Dante Bibliography for 2000 | Dante Society". www.dantesociety.org. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  33. Parks, Tim (8 January 2001). "Hell and Back". The New Yorker. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  34. Barbarese 2009.
  35. "Hollander to be honored in Italy". Princeton University. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  36. Johnson 2021.
  37. Acocella 2013.

Bibliography

Further reading
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