Mar'ot Elok-im (Inferno) by Dante Alighieri, First Hebrew Translation, Trieste 1869, Including a Poem by Shada"l at ...

Mar'ot Elok-im (Inferno) by Dante Alighieri, First Hebrew Translation, Trieste 1869, Including a Poem by Shada"l at the End. Rare Jacket Cover

Mar'ot Elok-im by Dante Alighieri, in Hebrew translation by Dr. Shaul Formiggini of Trieste.

First Hebrew translation of one of the most important works in the history of the West: Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, translated by Dr. Shaul Formiggini. Completed in honor of his sixtieth birthday, and printed by Lloyd Austriaco in 1869.

Written as a gift for the Kol Yisrael Chaverim Society - 'Kia"ch' in Paris (Alliance). Formiggini did not manage to complete the other two parts of Divine Comedy and passed away four years later.

In his foreword, the translator writes that "After the prophets of G-d through whom the Divine Spirit spoke, the greatest of poets was Dante Alighieri, and there were never any others like him - among any people and in any language." The translator justifies himself regarding Dante's Christianity - "Though he was born a Christian, and the faith of the Christians is the foundation of his visions" however "And yet also all that he said, and the wisdom of his sayings were correct, and equal and beautiful to all men." He therefore desired to disseminate Dante's works among Jews, including those who lived in the Orient, Poland, Russia, and the countries of the East. 

The translator attached Shada"l's poem at the end of the work, written in 1865 in honor of the author's six-hundredth birthday.

[3] 202, VIII pp. 21 cm.

Many antique comments in Italian script, apparently written close to when the book was printed.

Very fine condition, very minimal aging stains.