In a few passages of his writings, Dante identifies himself as “Love’s scribe”—the scribe, that is, of all love, from natural and human love to the “Love that moves the sun and the other stars.” Another fundamental notion in Dante, and in medieval thought in general, is that the manifold things of the creation are like pages bound together by divine love into a unified book, a series of successive analogies of God—a book written by God, in which can be discerned images and resemblances of divinity. As the current volume shows, this way of reading the creation also opens a vista into Dante’s or any traditional metaphysical-symbolist author’s works as an analogia entis—as a series of signs corresponding to multiple levels of reality, each resonating with others in the hierarchical chain of being.
Intended for general readers, admirers, and students of Dante, Love’s Scribe: Reading Dante in the Book of Creation is lucid and accessible to anyone with an interest in Dante. Tarry a while with an eminent translator-scholar of Dante’s work as he gently guides you to a depth of understanding of aspects of the Sommo Poeta’s (Supreme Poet’s) symbolic language and poetic expression usually accessible only to specialists.
