Monday 27 June 2011

Cavalcanti, Rime, ed. De Robertis, finally


Those attentive to my 'Books I Dream of Owning' will note that I have managed to find a copy of Guido Cavalcanti, Rime, con le rime di Iacopo Cavalcanti, ed. Domenico De Robertis, Nuova raccolta di classici italiani annotati, 10 (Torino: Einaudi, 1986). This took quite a bit of looking and in the end I picked up a copy for a mere €13 from the rather good website selling secondhand books: www.libri-usati.com and well worth a visit. A bit of underlining but all in pencil and easy to remove.

I know that the standard edition is now Rime, ed. by Letterio Cassata, Medioevo e Rinascimento, 3 (Anzio: De Rubeis, 1993)—which I have—but I really like De Robertis’ commentary.


Such is my delight, I reproduce a sonnet below:


Chi è questa che vèn, ch’ogn’om la mira,
che fa tremar di chiaritate l'âre
e mena seco Amor, sì che parlare
null’omo pote, ma ciascun sospira?

O Deo, che sembra quando li occhi gira!
dical’ Amor, ch’i’ nol savria contare:
cotanto d’umiltà donna mi pare,
ch’ogn’altra ver’ di lei i’ la chiam’ira.

Non si poria contar la sua piagenza,
ch’a le’ s’inchin’ ogni gentil vertute,
e la beltate per sua dea la mostra.

Non fu sì alta già la mente nostra
e non si pose ’n noi tanta salute,
che propiamente n’aviàn canoscenza.

(Rime IV, ed. De Robertis, pp. 16–19)

3 comments:

Philippe said...

Why were you so much interested in having the 1986 De Robertis edition, since there is a new De Robertis critical edition (2002): https://www.amazon.it/dp/8871666399/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=dante01-21&camp=3458&creative=23838&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=8871666399&adid=1E24MB1TSRR0SZX15565&
and a new comment by De Robertis:
https://www.amazon.it/dp/8884501520/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=dante01-21&camp=3458&creative=23838&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=8884501520&adid=0QASENMYGP27F61B9KFV&

?

Miglior acque said...

Thanks Philippe for the comment. You are actually talking about two different authors here: the 1986 volume is of Cavalcanti's Rime, while the critical edition of 2002 you refer to is Dante's Rime, with commentary published by SISMEL in 2005 (I do have both of these, by the way). The 1986 edition is in a very elegant series, the Nuova raccolta di classici italiani annotati (volume 1 of which is Contini's famous commentary to Dante's Rime, in 1939). So it is true that there are new editions of Cavalcanti's Rime, most notably Letterio Cassata's for De Rubeis in 1993 (an excellent edition, by the way, which I have), I do like the Einaudi books very very much and have others in the series. Leggiamo avanti!

Philippe said...

I wonder how could I have thought your were looking for the Rime by Dante? since you clearly state these were the Rime by Cavalcanti...
sorry for my stupid comment

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