Published January 1976

The Early Poetry of Guittone d'Arezzo
Vincent Moleta
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 9


Published January 1982

Language and Style in a Renaissance Epic: Berni's Corrections to Boiardo's 'Orlando Innamorato'
H. F. Woodhouse
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 17


Published May 1998

The Epic Rhetoric of Tasso: Theory and Practice
Maggie Günsberg
Legenda (General Series)

  • ‘Günsberg examines her material with great accuracy... deals with important aspects of Tasso's thought and poetical practice in a meticulous way, and can be useful both for readers attached to traditional rhetorical categories and for those with an interest in more recent critical developments.’ — Laura Benedetti, Italian Studies LIV, 1999, 177-8
  • ‘An attractive and interesting volume that provides a useful addition to the comparatively thin recent output of Tasso scholarship in this country.’ — Peter Brand, Modern Language Review 95.3, 2000, 857-8 (full text online)

Published September 1998

The Letters of Giacomo Leopardi 1817-1837
Edited by Prue Shaw
Italian Perspectives 1


Published July 2001

Eugenio Montale: The Poetry of the Later Years
Éanna Ó Ceallacháin
Legenda (General Series)

  • ‘Explores the ways in which Montale demystifies his own status as a great modernist, satirizes historical progress and current social life, places himself as a 'ghost' among other ghosts, awaiting his dissolution into non-being which may or may not imply some hidden divine presence, and enters into the 'trivial' contingencies of everyday life... From what may have been the old poet's isolated and disillusioned position, he hits the mark time and again, as this well-crafted study shows.’ — Rebecca West, Modern Language Review 98.2, 2003, 479-80 (full text online)
  • ‘Let me declare myself at the outset: this is an excellent piece of work. It is the quintessence of scholarship: meticulously researched, methodologically sound and lucidly written... I cannot emphasise strongly enough the importance of this volume: every student of Montale should be encouraged to read Ó Ceallacháin's perceptive, and above all, comprehensible interpretations of Montale's later poetry. It goes without saying that the notes, bibliography and indices are impeccably produced.’ — Elizabeth Schächter, Italian Studies LVIII, 2003
  • ‘Effectively charts the continuities and changes in the the relationship between the poet and his history.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies XL.2, April 2004, 237

Published January 2002

Comedy and Culture: Cecco Angiolieri’s Poetry and Late Medieval Society
Fabian Alfie
Italian Perspectives 8


Published December 2002

Metaphor in Dante
David Gibbons
Legenda (General Series)

  • ‘David Gibbon's book is a fascinating and subtle investigation of Dante's dazzling and experimental use of metaphors in the Divine Comedy. ... an important and notewhorty contribution to the understanding of Dante's use, creation, and renewal of the poetic language.’ — Paola Nasti, Modern Language Review 100.1, 2005, 229-30 (full text online)
  • ‘Not only is Gibbons alert to the complexity of the question generally - at once historical, hermeneutical, dialectical, and literary-aesthetic in kind - but his analysis of the texts he invokes is both sensitive and illuminating as regards the variety of Dante's imagery and its functionality within the poem as a whole.’ — John Took, Italian Studies Volume LIX, 2004, 153-4

Published January 2003

Luigi Tansillo and Lyric Poetry in Sixteenth-Century Naples
Erika Milburn
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 57


Published June 2003

Image and Word: Reflections of Art and Literature
Edited by Antonella Braida and Giuliana Pieri
Legenda (General Series)


Published June 2004

Science and Literature in Italian Culture: From Dante to Calvino
Edited by Pierpaolo Antonello and Simon A. Gilson
Legenda (General Series)

  • ‘Legenda's elegantly produced volume is all things to all people. It does discuss literature and science, but its miscellany is all the more enjoyable for not being tightly constrained by a potentially dogmatic, even questionable, unifying theme of "L&S".’ — J. R. Woodhouse, Modern Language Review 100.3, 7 July 2005, 845-48 (full text online)
  • Speculum October 2005, 1404)

Published May 2006

From Florence to the Heavenly City: The Poetry of Citizenship in Dante
Claire E. Honess
Italian Perspectives 13


Published January 2007

The Influence of Pre-Raphaelitism on Fin-de-Siècle Italy: Art, Beauty, and Culture
Giuliana Pieri
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 65


Published October 2007

Dante Alighieri: Four Political Letters
Translated and with a commentary by Claire E. Honess
Critical Texts 6


Published July 2009

Boccaccio and the Book: Production and Reading in Italy 1340-1520
Rhiannon Daniels
Italian Perspectives 19

  • ‘This descriptive study provides many details that will benefit any scholar interested in the reception of Boccaccio’s works before the transformations they undergo in the later Cinquecento.’ — Martin Eisner, Renaissance Quarterly 63.2, 2010, 545-46
  • ‘Original and highly detailed... Chapter 1 could usefully be recommended to students of the history of the book in Italy for the clarity with which it presents all of the aspects that need to be considered in a discussion of readership, reception, production, and paratext, in both manuscripts and printed books... A significant contribution to the history of the book in Italy.’ — Jane Everson, Modern Language Review 106.2, April 2011, 564-66 (full text online)
  • ‘This book is a valuable and stimulating contribution to the reception history of Boccaccio. Particularly interesting is the way that Daniels looks at manuscripts and printed editions that have not been given their due, and the reader will constantly come across intriguing details.’ — K. P. Clarke, Medium Aevum 74, 2010

Published September 2010

Dante's Plurilingualism: Authority, Knowledge, Subjectivity
Edited by Sara Fortuna, Manuele Gragnolati and Jürgen Trabant
Legenda (General Series)

  • ‘From the introduction to the concluding interview with Giorgio Pressburger, this volume of essays is characterized by both authoritative contributions from major figures in Dante studies (Baranski, Gragnolati, Pertile) and also by genuinely original lines of enquiry. Dante’s Plurilingualism constitutes an indispensable point of reference for contemporary Dante studies, an ideal companion to the new Dante editions that have recently appeared, and also acts as a constant spur to reread all of the poet’s works, and to appreciate the ‘plurilingualism’ that is inherent even in those works that that precede the Comedy.’ — Federica Pich, Lettere Italiane 2011, 323-28
  • ‘Although we also find essays that offer a strong historicizing or linguistic focus and others that are powerful contributions to the methodologies and findings traditionally associated with Dante studies, the volume remains of particular note (and importance) for its concern to open Dante up to dialogue across disciplines and to relate him to contemporary debates.’ — Simon Gilson, Modern Language Review 107.1, January 2012, 292-93 (full text online)
  • ‘Colpisce e affascina, in Dante’s Plurilingualism, una ben percepibile disposizione all’audacia interpretativa, al “saggio” come esperimento intellettuale; ciò che convince, nell’insieme, è che non si sia di fronte alla mera esibizione di uno “stile” critico – pur di- versamente delineato –, ma ad un molteplice tentativo di indagine su Dante, inteso come oggetto e al tempo stesso soggetto non tanto di una determinata stagione della lingua e della letteratura italiane, quanto di una più ampia e complessa storia culturale.’ — Martino Marazzi, L'Alighieri 39, June 2012, 160-64
  • ‘Proprio nella lingua che usiamo, con cui scriviamo, possiamo essere convinti che Dante sia arrivato prima di noi e che ci abbia lasciato una grandissima eredità. Gli interventi di questo volume riescono a mettere in evidenza tutti gli aspetti per cui la lingua di Dante e il suo modo di utilizzarla appaiono ancora oggi come un 'miracolo inconcepibile'.’ — Irene Baccarini, Dante VIII, 2011, 227-30

Published February 2011

Dante in Oxford: The Paget Toynbee Lectures
Edited by Tristan Kay, Martin McLaughlin and Michelangelo Zaccarello
Legenda (General Series)

  • ‘A welcome addition to the ocean of Dante studies.’ — John A. Scott, Modern Language Review 108.2, April 2013, 648-50 (full text online)

Published June 2012

Desire in Dante and the Middle Ages
Edited by Manuele Gragnolati, Tristan Kay, Elena Lombardi and Francesca Southerden
Legenda (General Series)

  • ‘A series of Dante symposia organized by Manuele Gragnolati and colleagues over the past few years have brought youthful vitality to an ancient field... There is much careful scholarship and thoughtful reading in this book, which should attract Dante and medieval studies scholars alike, particularly those interested in contemporary critical approaches to medieval texts.’ — Gary Cestaro, Renaissance Quarterly 66.1 (Spring 2013), 323-24
  • ‘As well as offering several original contributions on this fundamental aspect of Dante’s work, it seeks to situate the Florentine writer more effectively within the broader spectrum of medieval culture and to establish greater intellectual exchange between Dante scholars and those from other disciplines.’ — unsigned notice, Studi Medievali 53.2 (2012), 1029-30
  • ‘The essays not only present a rich view of contemporary thinking on medieval notions and expressions of desire but address some of the most compelling issues of modern Dante and medieval scholarship... desire in the medieval context emerges as an issue to be expressed through the unique capabilities of poetry, an experience to be physically, spiritually, and emotionally undergone, and, ultimately, a state to be manifested in the very act of writing.’ — Ruth Chester, Modern Language Review 109.1, January 2014, 221-22 (full text online)
  • ‘This is a well-conceived collection, with an excellent bibliography, that will be valuable both for Dante scholars and every medievalist or early modernist with an interest in topics related to desire: the body, perception, memory, mysticism, just to name a few. The volume achieves a rare balance of interdisciplinarity and cohesiveness, bringing together approaches to the text as diverse as queer theory and translation studies, but maintaining a common intent to map desire as a hermeneutic tool in Dante studies and beyond.’ — Eleonora Stoppino, Speculum 89.3, 2014, 773-74
  • ‘This is a very useful source for Dante scholars, because it offers original and innovative contributions on the many-sided aspects of desire. [...] It is also a very valuable study for any scholar interested in the topic on a comparative or interdisciplinary level and seeks to illustrate how the current discourse on desire can apply to Dante and the medieval world.’ — Niccolino Applauso, Italica 90.4, Winter 2013
  • ‘This interesting interdisciplinary collection contributes significantly to our growing understanding of desire in the Middle Ages.’ — Beatrice Priest, Medium Aevum 82.2, 2013
  • ‘Il punto di forza di questo volume risiede a mio avviso nell'impiego di originali modelli d'analisi dell'opera dell'Alighieri che, offrendo percorsi inediti e accostamenti seppur talora arditi, hanno il pregio di costituire un effervescente contributo al panorama degli studi danteschi. Proprio la materia d'analisi, il desiderio, che si pone come proteiforme agente di cambiamento, l'insieme di questi articoli non manchera' di stimolare nuovi indirizzi di ricerca.’ — Gabriella Addivinola, L'Alighieri 42, 2013

Published May 2013

Dante and Epicurus: A Dualistic Vision of Secular and Spiritual Fulfilment
George Corbett
Italian Perspectives 25

  • ‘George Corbett's book elegantly and lucidly addresses the relationship of Epicurean philosophy upon Dante's own ethical reasoning. As such, this work fills a gap left open not only in Dante studies, but within wider medieval studies as well, from which, as Corbett reminds us, Epicureanism has long been ignored. [...] While the book tackles issues of a highly philosophical nature, it does so consistently in a clear and accessible style. [...] Corbett's work will appeal not only to Dantists, but to scholars of philosophy, literature, and the Middle Ages, as well. As such, it is an outstanding book that proposes and skilfully realizes a truly ambitious project.’ — Lorenzo Valterza, Medium Aevum LXXXIII.2, 2014, 349-50
  • ‘George Corbett approfondisce il rapporto fra Dante e la filosofia epicurea alla luce di un approccio critico più ampio, volto a dimostrare la permanenza, nella Commedia, della visione dualistica dantesca.’ — Giulia Gaimari, L'Alighieri 43, 2014, 165-68
  • ‘Considered from the point of view of what Corbett’s book has to say about Dante and one of the—theologically speaking—more problematic spirits on his horizon, it is to be welcomed, its sense of Dante’s appreciation of an Epicurus notable for something other than mere sensuality but wedded, even so, to a species of mortalism making inevitably for his reprobation within the Christian scheme of things emerging from it both clearly and convincingly.’ — John Took, Speculum 89.2, April 2014, 466-68
  • ‘George Corbett writes with great clarity and logic, drawing on a wide range of resources from early commentators (among whom he moves with ease) and the whole of Dante’s œuvre to a host of modern Dante critics. Points of comparison and continuity rather than of palinodic rewriting are sought between the Commedia and the ‘minor works’, and the author is bold and confident in his challenges to various prevalent critical assumptions. The ambiguities surrounding Epicurus before and during Dante’s day are persuasively elucidated, with good, nuanced background on mediators such as Cicero, Augustine, and Albert the Great.’ — Jennifer Rushworth, Modern Language Review 109.3, July 2014, 821-22 (full text online)
  • ‘L'importante lavoro di George Corbett si propone di indagare in maniera esaustiva l'influenza esercitata dal pensiero filosofico epicureo nell'opera dantesca [...] l'autore si interroga su due questioni fondamentali: quali sono i testi che possono aver influenzato la ricezione di Dante dell'Epicureismo e in che modo il poeta riesce a rappresentare Epicuro e gli epicurei nelle sue opere.’ — Claudia Tardelli Terry, Italian Studies 69.3, November 2014, 449-50
  • ‘Corbett's book is well written, accurate, and rigorously argued. The thesis that Dante's Commedia presents a dualistic vision of the fulfilment of mankind is innovative and compelling for a new scholarly criticism of the Commedia. The first part on Dante's reception of Epicureanism is the most persuasive and ground-breaking; it shows how the reconstruction of Dante's sources is essential for understanding his reception of ancient literature and philosophy.’ — Filippo Gianferrari, Annali d'Italianistica 32, 2014, 593-95
  • ‘Stunningly readable with potent, clear argumentation, Corbett’s nonetheless highly academic presentation of Dante’s dualism in the context of the poet’s literary integration of the figure and philosophy of Epicurus reads like a page-turner. Furthermore, Corbett’s innovative methodological approach is cradled by a no less than masterful organization throughout the book. [...] The topic and breadth of the book, perhaps, lend themselves better to students and scholars versed well enough with the traditions of the philosophers, biblical exegetes and scholarly commentators that orbit so closely Dante’s works. Readers with a grasp of Latin will take double pleasure in reading volumes of quotes from their original sources as well as in their English translations. Corbett’s book, overall, is a must-have for the bookshelves of the committed dantista.’ — Elsie Emslie Stevens, Italica 41.4, 2014, 833-35
  • ‘George Corbett presenta un volume nel quale viene ripercorsa, con ampiezza e profondità di indagine, l’importante questione relativa ai rapporti fra Dante e l’epicureismo […] Il volume di Corbett si configura senza alcun dubbio, quindi, come un serio e notevole tentativo di far luce in modo esaustivo e corretto su un non irrilevante nodo problematico dell’universo filosofico e poetico dantesco, insieme punto d’arrivo di una lunga e ininterrotta tradizione esegetica e punto di partenza per nuovi, auspicabili interventi critici.’ — Armando Bisanti, Studi Medievali series 3 vol 56, 2015, 444-45

Edoardo Sanguineti: Literature, Ideology and the Avant-Garde
Edited by Paolo Chirumbolo and John Picchione
Italian Perspectives 26

  • ‘Chirumbolo and Picchione’s impressive volume represents a significant and timely addition to the field, which scholars of Sanguineti will want to follow and explore in the future.’ — Florian Mussgnug, Modern Language Review 111.1, January 2016, 268-70 (full text online)
  • ‘This dense but lucid collection makes a timely and valuable contribution to studies of Sanguineti's works and influence. The combination of critical and personal essays will make this volume particularly compelling to scholars interested in Sanguineti's legacy.’ — Mary Migliozzi, Forum Italicum 250-53
  • ‘A tre anni dalla scomparsa di Edoardo Sanguineti, Paolo Chirumbolo e John Picchione propongono questo interessantissimo volume dedicato al poeta genovese. I due curatori sono da annoverare fra i più prolifici ed attenti critici letterari sulla neoavanguardia italiana in Nord America... Un’autentica perla, un volume essenziale per chi volesse non solo occuparsi di uno dei guru dello sperimentalismo italiano, ma anche per chi intendesse affrontare il variegato mondo della neoavanguardia italiana con più ampio respiro.’ — Beppe Cavatorta, Annali d'Italianistica 32, 2014, 670-72

Published September 2013

Likenesses: Translation, Illustration, Interpretation
Matthew Reynolds
Studies In Comparative Literature 30

  • ‘The collection reveals an impressive breadth of scholarship, travelling between disciplines and across centuries from George Stubbs’s equestrian paintings, through the more familiar Reynoldian territory of Robert Browning, to the conspicuously contemporary, ‘Dante on the Tube’. This diversity effectively demonstrates ‘continuities’ in literature, impressing upon the reader the contemporary relevance of earlier works through juxtaposition.’ — Rebecca Butler, Modern Language Review 110.3, July 2015, 793-94 (full text online)

Published December 2013

Leopardi's Nymphs: Grace, Melancholy, and the Uncanny
Fabio A. Camilletti
Italian Perspectives 28

  • ‘La nuova e apparentemente inusuale costellazione concettuale che fa da impalcatura al libro si dimostra capace di portare alla luce, proprio nel suo essere lievemente sfasata rispetto alle categorie normalmente associate a Leopardi, risvolti inattesi tra le pieghe di un pensiero e di una poesia su cui pure si è venuta depositando una bibliografia sterminata. Per gli snodi teorici e problematici che evidenzia, per i confronti che intavola, il libro si rivela una lettura decisamente appassionante, dove anche le divagazioni più ardite non mancano di trovare spazio e giustificazione all’interno della tesi più generale che le inquadra.’ — Alessandra Aloisi, Oblio IV.16, January 2015, 111-13
  • ‘Camilletti not only convincingly answers the question of why Leopardi’s work still speaks to us so powerfully, but also demonstrates the need to reconfigure our understanding of the literary past and tradition in order to follow Walter Benjamin’s advice and 'brush history against the grain'.’ — Damiano Benvegnù, Annali d'Italianistica 32, 2014, 638-40
  • ‘Il saggio di Camilletti è il frutto maturo del profondo rinnovamento che gli studi leopardiani hanno vissuto negli ultimi anni, con l’apertura a diversi e inediti orizzonti interpretativi. Molto ci sarebbe da dire sulla ricchezza di letture e di analisi testuali, sempre puntuali, che spaziano dai testi poetici alla prosa filosofica, dagli scritti privati a quelli eruditi. Il lavoro di Camilletti non è di quelli che si possano circoscrivere a un territorio, piccolo o grande che sia; esso delinea invece un percorso dalle molte ramificazioni che mette in gioco, attraversando l’intera opera leopardiana, profonde tensioni e densi nuclei problematici.’ — Franco d'Intino, La Rassegna della Letteratura Italiana 118.2, December 2014, 668-70
  • ‘Leopardi studies have undergone a profound renewal in recent years, opening up the prospect of different, unprecedented, interpretative horizons. Fabio A. Camilletti’s monograph makes a substantial contribution to this renewal.’ — Franco d'Intimo, Modern Language Review 110.3, July 2015, 881-82 (full text online)

Published March 2014

Antonio Malatesti, La Tina. Equivoci rusticali
Edited by Davide Messina
Critical Texts 41

  • ‘Dobbiamo rendere merito a Davide Messina, Senior Lecturer presso l’Università di Edimburgo e fine studioso di letteratura italiana del Seicento, se possiamo leggere ed apprezzare i cinquanta sonetti che compongono la raccolta poetica’ — Mario Ceroti, Mosaici online at www.mosaici.org.uk, 2014

Published November 2014

Rustico Filippi, The Art of Insult
Translated by Fabian Alfie
New Translations 5


Published September 2015

Leopardi and Shelley: Discovery, Translation and Reception
Daniela Cerimonia
Studies In Comparative Literature 34


Published October 2015

Authority, Innovation and Early Modern Epistemology: Essays in Honour of Hilary Gatti
Edited by Martin McLaughlin, Ingrid D. Rowland and Elisabetta Tarantino
Legenda (General Series)