Preface

Summary

The edition of Dante's Commedia printed in Venice in 1477 has on its last page a sonnet which identifies in turn the four people responsible for the volume. First of all there is the author, ‘Dante Alleghieri Fiorentin poeta’. Then comes the commentator, named as Benvenuto da Imola. These two are followed by a certain Cristoforo Berardi of Pesaro, described as the ‘unworthy corrector’ of the work ‘in so far as he understood its subject’ (‘indegno correctore | per quanto intese di quella i subietti’). Last of all comes the German printer, Windelin of Speyer.

Of the four roles represented in this epilogue, those of author, commentator and printer need no explanation. Less familiar, though, is the third figure, the ‘correctore’. What were his probable functions in the relationship between Dante's poem and the assumed fifth character, the reader of Windelin's volume? Berardi's position in the list suggests that his tasks were carried out before those of the printer. He would, first of all, have prepared for Windelin copy-texts of the Commedia and of its commentary using one or more sources, most probably introducing his own punctuation and correcting aspects of the language as he saw fit. However, Berardi's duties extended beyond that of the textual critic, for he had overall responsibility for the contents of the volume. He included summaries of each canto and a life of the author: items intended, like the commentary, to help readers to find their way around the poem and to understand it.