Friday Links, August 6, 2021
+ Explore seven centuries of art inspired by Dante’s Commedia.
+ In preparation for the August 14 Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe, an article and a ZOOM event about his—little-known-in-the-West—work and enduring popularity in Japan.
+ If you want to write and publish book reviews, “Catholic Reads” wants to hear from you.
A Digital Archive of the Earliest Illustrated Editions of Dante’s Divine Comedy (1487-1568)
Fans of Dante will enjoy Divine Comedy Digital, a database of seven centuries of art inspired by his greatest work. The above-linked article at “Open Culture” introduces and provides links to Explore Divine Comedy Digital, a New Digital Database That Collects Seven Centuries of Art Inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy and other related sites.
“Book history buffs don’t need to be told, but the rest of us probably do: incunable—from a Latin word meaning ‘cradle,’ ‘swaddling clothes,’ or ‘infancy’—refers to a book printed before 1501, during the very first half-century of printing in Europe. An overwhelming number of the works printed during this period were in Latin, the transcontinental language of philosophy, theology, and early science. . . . Ten copies [of Dante’s Divine Comedy—which, unusually for its time, was published in Dante’s regional Tuscan dialect, which became the standard Italian language] appeared in the period of incunabula, the first in 1472. The 1481 edition contained art based on Sandro Botticelli’s unfinished series of Divine Comedy illustrations. The first fully-illustrated edition appeared in 1491. . . . The Commedia, as it was originally called, continued to gain in stature into the 16th century, where it received lavish treatment in other illustrated editions.” And now we are able to view the many illustrations that were created in the five centuries since then.
Canto XVIII, part of the 8th circle of Hell in the Inferno: “Punishment of the Panderers, Seducers, Sycophants, and Flatterers”
From Creative Commons: This work has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.
Maximilian Kolbe in Japan
In preparation for the Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe on August 14, the anniversary of his death in Auschwitz, you can not only read "St. Maximilian Kolbe in Japan," a “Catholic Arts Today” article about his little-known-in-the-West work and enduring popularity in Japan (at the above link), but you can also join a ZOOM discussion on the same topic on August 13, the eve of his feast, at 5:30 PM Pacific/8:30 pm Eastern.
Ann Thomas, DT Managing Editor, writes about the CAT article, “This is a wonderful read in advance of celebrating his feast next week.”
More about the ZOOM discussion: Prof. Kevin Doak is an expert in Japanese literature and culture who translated Ayoko Sono's Miracles—a fictional exploration of the life of the saint that is one of the influences described in the article contributing to how Kolbe is immensely well known and admired in present day Japan. At the ZOOM event, Doak will join Joshua Hren, publisher of Wiseblood Books. Wiseblood Books and the Benedict XVI Institute are bringing Sono's novel Miracles back into print for English readers this month.
You can find more details about the saint and sign up for the Kolbe in Japan event here.
We Are Hiring! – Historical Fiction, Horror, Fantasy & Nonfiction Editors
Katy Carl, Dappled Things Editor in Chief, writes: “Catholic Reads needs editors, if you want to write book reviews.” Books to be reviewed are “Catholic-appropriate” works in the genres of Historical Fiction, Horror, Fantasy, and Nonfiction.
