"Tra mille abissi e precipizi": The Contribution of Algarotti, Bettinelli and Gozzi to Dante's Critical Fortune in the Eighteenth Century

The eighteenth century holds a unique place in the history of Dante Studies, especially with regard to the criticial evalutaion of the 'Divine Comedy'. After the sensitive exegesis undertaken in the fourteenth century and on the strength of the humanist evaluation of Dante as poet and philosopher in the fifteenth century, the Cinquecento focused attention on the linguistic and grammatical aspects of the 'Comedy'