Books

Folio. 364, [2] pp., illus. Limited edition, one of 300 copies, this one out of series. As issued in full brick-red leather with gilt fleur-de-lis at each corner; top edge gilt. In publisher issued slipcase. A beautiful copy with trivial rubbing in the center of the spine, in very nearly fine condition. Slipcase with some wear to the spine and separation starting at the back joints. It remains solid. This book was initially conceived of in 1902 when Rogers was working on the publication of Norton's translation at the Riverside Press. A page proof was set in Rogers's Montagine type but the with Norton's death the project was shelved. It resurfaced in the early 1930s when Rogers was working on his monumental lectern Bible, but again, Dante would be put aside. More than half a century after its conception, Rogers saw it to completion, the last major work designed by Rogers. An exquisitely designed and executed book it is printed on handmade paper in Rogers's 18 point Centaur, a font D. B. Updike in his Printing Types remarks, "it appears to me one of the best roman fonts yet designed in America--and of its kind, the best anywhere." In the prospectus for the book, Rogers himself calls it "the most important book of my life." An unquestionable triumph of printing.

An epic poem by Dante Alighieri, set in a spiritual journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise with Virgil and Beatrice as guides.