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As I know no man who surpasses yourself either in combining a love ofthe most romantic fiction with the coolest good sense, or in passingfrom the driest metaphysical questions to the heartiest enjoyment ofhumour,—I trust that even a modesty so true as yours will not grudge methe satisfaction of inscribing these volumes with your name.
That you should possess such varieties of taste is no wonder,considering what an abundance of intellectual honours you inherit; normight the world have been the better for it, had they been tastes, andnothing more. But that you should inherit also that zeal for justice tomankind, which has become so Christian a feature in the character of theage, and that you should include in that zeal a special regard for thewelfare of your Father's Friend, are subjects of constant pleasurablereflection to
Your obliged and affectionate
The purpose of these volumes is, to add to the stock of tales from theItalian writers; to retain as much of the poetry of the originals as itis in the power of the writer's prose to compass; and to furnish carefulbiographical notices of the authors. There have been several collectionsof stories from the Novellists of Italy, but none from the Poets; and itstruck me that prose versions from these, of the kind here offered tothe public, might not be unwillingly received. The stories are selectedfrom the five principal narrative poets, Dante, Pulci, Boiardo, Ariosto,and Tasso; they comprise the most popular of such as are fit fortranslation; are reduced into one continuous narrative, when diffusedand interrupted, as in the instances of those of Angelica, and Armida;are accompanied with critical and explanatory notes; and, in the case ofDante, consist of an abstract of the poet's whole work. The volumes are,furthermore, interspersed with the most favourite morceaux of theoriginals, followed sometimes with attempts to versify them; and in theAppendix, for the furtherance of the study of the Italian language, aregiven entire stories, also in the original, and occasionally renderedin like manner. The book is particularly intended for such students orother lovers of the language as are pleased with any fresh endeavours torecommend it; and, at the same time, for such purely English readers aswish to know something about Italian poetry, without having leisure tocultivate its acquaintance.
I did not intend in the first instance to depart from the planof selection in the case of Dante; but when I considered what anextraordinary person he was,—how intense is every thing which hesays,—how widely he has re-attracted of late the attention of theworld,—how willingly perhaps his poem might be regarded by the readeras being itself one continued story (which, in fact, it is), relatedpersonally of the writer,—and lastly, what a combination ofdifficulties have prevented his best translators in verse from givingthe public a just idea of his almost Scriptural simplicity,—I began tothink that an abstract of his entire work might possibly be looked uponas supplying something of a desideratum. I am aware that n