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Purgatory

Written by Dante
Illustrated by Gustave Dore
Translated by Anthony Esolen

Poetry | Modern Library | Trade Paperback
March 2004 | $11.95 | 978-0-8129-7125-5 (0-8129-7125-6)

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About this Book

A new translation by Anthony Esolen
Illustrations by Gustave Doré

Includes an appendix of key sources and extensive endnotes 
 
Arguably the greatest single poem ever written, The Divine Comedy presents Dante Alighieri's all-encompassing vision of the three realms of Christian afterlife.  In this groundbreaking new translation of Dante's most brilliant, imaginative creation, Purgatory, Dante struggles up the terraces of Mount Purgatory, still guided by Virgil, in continuation of his difficult ascent to purity.

Praise for Anthony Esolen’s translation of
Inferno:

“Professor Esolen’s translation of Dante’s Inferno is the best one I have seen. . . . And his endnotes and other additions provoke answers to almost any question that could arise about the work.”
A. Kent Hieatt, translator of The Canterbury Tales

“Esolen’s brilliant translation captures the power and the spirit of a poem that does not easily give up its secrets.”
Robert Royal, president, Faith and Reason Institute

“Anthony Esolen’s new translation follows Dante through all his spectacular range, commanding where he is commanding, wrestling, as he does, with the density and darkness in language and in the soul. It is living writing.”
James Richardson, Princeton University

About the Author

Anthony Esolen is a professor of English at Providence College. He is the author of Peppers, a book of poetry, and his translations include Lucretius’s De Rerum Natura and Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme Liberata, along with Dante’s Inferno, published by the Modern Library.