Dante’s epistle to the Cardinals is attested by a single manuscript, entirely copied by Boccaccio. Until very recently, scholars have regarded Boccaccio as an unreliable copyist. The article aims to show that this prejudice must be discarded. In this light, I examine on a paleographic, philological and historical ground the first lines of the text, where Dante claims his charisma as a new Jeremiah, whose authentically prophetic words fall on deaf ears. By focusing on the epistle’s language, sources and historical and doctrinal bearings, I put the text into its own right light, and thus show how some textual revisions and readings advanced by Dante scholarship are misguided.
Potesta', G. L., «Cum Ieremia». Sul testo della lettera di Dante ai Cardinali, in Montefusco, A., Milani, G. (ed.), Le lettere di Dante. Ambienti culturali, contesti storici e circolazione dei saperi, De Gruyter, Berlin 2020: <<BILINGUALISM IN MEDIEVAL TUSCANY>>, 2 493- 508. 10.1515/9783110590661-023 [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/150288]
«Cum Ieremia». Sul testo della lettera di Dante ai Cardinali
Potesta', Gian Luca
2020
Abstract
Dante’s epistle to the Cardinals is attested by a single manuscript, entirely copied by Boccaccio. Until very recently, scholars have regarded Boccaccio as an unreliable copyist. The article aims to show that this prejudice must be discarded. In this light, I examine on a paleographic, philological and historical ground the first lines of the text, where Dante claims his charisma as a new Jeremiah, whose authentically prophetic words fall on deaf ears. By focusing on the epistle’s language, sources and historical and doctrinal bearings, I put the text into its own right light, and thus show how some textual revisions and readings advanced by Dante scholarship are misguided.
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