Dante, la Commedia, la patria e l’estero: l’edizione parigina di Niccolò Giosafatte Biagioli (1818-1819)

This essay analyzes the central aspects of Niccolò Giosafatte Biagioli’s critical edition of the Divina Commedia, published in Paris by Dondey-Dupré in 1818-1819, its strengths and its weaknesses. The first part deals with the cultural context in which Biagioli conceived his comment (§1) and the main features of his critical approach (§2); the second part tries to explain how Biagioli misunderstood parts of the text, giving examples of passages of his considerations that are questionable, particularly from a philological and linguistic point of view (§3); the final paragraph is devoted to Biagioli’s violent attacks on other commentators and critical editions, and to his contribution to this kind of debate.