In 1900, the Fratelli Alinari organized a contest to illustrate a new edition of the Inferno. The Alinari brothers, who mainly worked in photography, were the first to have founded a photographic library in Florence. The firm, transformed in 2020 into Fondazione Alinari per la Fotografia, still manages an immense patrimony of images today on behalf of numerous public and private organizations.

Thirty-one artists participated in the contest for the Comedy of 1900, who exhibited their works on the premises of the Società di Belle Arti of Florence between June 13 and 25, 1901. Twenty-two among them were selected to be published in an elegant large format edition. Alberto Zardo, who illustrated cantos 8 and 9 of Inferno, won first place, Armando Spadini won second, and third place was equally awarded to Duilio Cambellotti and Ernesto Bellandi (Sisi 2002, 24). The success of the initiative led the Alinari brothers to look for more artists to collaborate with in illustrating Purgatory and Paradise. The three canticles were released between 1902 and 1903 and were published separately, then united in a single volume, with several bindings available. The final product is an elegant publication, refined and luxurious, that was a remarkable success.

A copy containing the three canticles, with leather binding and metal clasps, is conserved by the collection of the Université de Montréal.

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Full title: La Divina Commedia novamente illustrata da artisti italiani.

Author: Dante Alighieri (1265-1321, author); Vittorio Alinari (1859-1932, editor).

Content: Comedy.

Date of publication: 1902-1903.

Place of publication: Florence, Italy.

Publisher: Fratelli Alinari.

Language: Italian.

Physical Description: 456 p., 500 illustrations (137 for Inferno, 130 for Purgatory and 133 for Paradise). 385 x 272 mm. Full leather binding in brown calfskin, of medieval type, with clasps and embossed title. Cold stamping on the front cover “Dante Alighieri” and “La Divina Commedia”.

Call Number: Université de Montréal, Bibliothèque des livres rares et collections spéciales, Collection générale, PQ 4302 F02 1902.

Catalogue: https://umontreal.on.worldcat.org/oclc/718247368

Known Owners: Université de Montréal.

Ex-libris and Stamps: none.

History of the copy: There is no available information to reconstruct the date of acquisition of the book by the Université de Montréal.

Notes: Illustrators whose works are part of the publication are: Libero Andreotti (1875-1933), Lionello Balestrieri (1872-1958), Carlo Balestrini (1686-1923), Giulio Bargellini (1875-1936), Alfredo Baruffi (1873-1948), Augusto Bastianini (1875-1940), Silvio Bicchi (1874-1948), Giovanni Buffa (1871-1954), Arturo Calosci (1854-1926), Duilio Cambellotti (1876-1960), Pietro Chiesa (1876-1959), Giovanni Costetti (1874-1949), Alfredo De Karolis (1874-1928), Fabio Fabi (1861-1946), Arturo Faldi (1856-1911), Giovanni Fattori (1825-1908), Egisto Ferroni (1835-1912), Ruggero Focardi (1864-1934), Riccardo Galli (1869-1944), Giorgio Kienerk (1869-1948), Vincenzo La Bella (1872-1954), Cesare Laurenti (1854-1936), Serafino Macchiati (1871-1916), Adolfo Magrini (1874-1957), Alessandro Marcucci (1876-1968), Ezio Marzi (1875-1955), Giovanni Maria Mataloni (1869-1944), Giuseppe Mentessi (1857-1931), Carlo Muccioli (1857-1931), Augusto Mussini (1870-1918), Plinio Nomellini (1866-1943), Camillo Pagliucchi, Edgardo Saporetti (1965-1909), Aristide Sartori (1860-1932), Pietro Senno (1831-1904), Armando Spadini (1883-1925), Giorgio Szoldatics (1873-1955), Amedeo Tedeschi (1874-1924), Osvaldo Tofani (1849-1915), Alberto Zardo (1876-1959).

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Bibliography

Sisi, Carlo. 2002. « Il concorso Alinari e l’illustrazione della Divina Commedia », in La Commedia dipinta. Florence: Alinari, p. 13-54.

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Author and date of the record: Alessio Marziali Peretti, 27/02/2021.

English translation: Brittany Buscio.