Available for the first time in paperback, this essential resource presents a systematic introduction to Dante's life and works, his cultural context and intellectual legacy.

The only such work available in English, this Encyclopedia:

brings together contemporary theories on Dante, summarizing them in clear and vivid prose

provides in-depth discussions of the Divine Comedy, looking at title and form, moral structure, allegory and realism, manuscript tradition, and also taking account of the various editions of the work over the centuries

contains numerous entries on Dante's other important writings and on the major subjects covered within them

addresses connections between Dante and philosophy, theology, poetics, art, psychology, science, and music as well as critical perspective across the ages, from Dante's first critics to the present.