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March 26, 2025

Video: A look at UW Libraries’ rare 1544 edition of Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’

Bound in calfskin and detailed in gold, a rare 1544 edition of Dante’s Divine Comedy was added to UW Libraries’ collection this year. The volume contains something to pique anyone’s interest, says Julie Tanaka, associate dean for Distinctive Collections at UW Libraries. The book is nearly 500 years old, and has likely lasted so long because its pages are made of durable linen fiber, not wood pulp. The handmade leather cover and sturdy binding also helped preserve the book. When librarians handle the book today, they use foam wedges to cradle the cover, which helps protect the centuries-old spine.

At the time this book was produced, it was customary for people to buy the pages and take them to be bound in the cover of their choice. Books were expensive and treated with care. This particular edition likely received the current leather binding a century after it was printed. There are also some marginal notes in Italian left by its owner. 

It may have been typical for a book from this period in northern Italy to have been printed 1,000 times. Today, surviving copies are rare, though a handful of collections on the West Coast have acquired copies.

Dante Alighieri was an Italian medieval poet, penning the Divine Comedy in the early 1300s. This edition is remarkable for the side-by-side text by a leading 16th century Dante commentator, Alessandro Vellutello, and for the intricate wood-cut illustrations depicting Dante’s vision of hell, purgatory and heaven.

“What excites me is that there’ll be something in this book that appeals to everyone,” Tanaka said. “It has lots of opportunities for discovery and engagement. And for UW Libraries, that’s why we’re here.”

The Vellutello Dante may be viewed in the Special Collections Reading Room by making an appointment via the catalog link here or contact Special Collection by email (speccoll@uw.edu).

Tag(s): Julie Tanaka • UW Libraries

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