Dante Alighieri, Œuvre complètes. Vol. II: Vita nuova / La Vie neuve, ed. Donato Pirovano, trans. from the Italien and critical ed. by Bruno Pinchard. Bibliothèque Italienne, 2. Série Textes, 2. Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2024, 353 pp.

Every medievalist knows of the great contributions to medieval literature by Dante Alighieri. His famous work from his youth, his Vita nuova, could be compared to Goethe’s Leiden des jungen Werthers, since both texts are sort of autobiographical and express the deep love pangs the protagonist experiences without ever achieving the desired goal. Both narratives represent major mileposts in Western literature. Little wonder that Dante’s Vita nuova has been edited, translated, and interpreted for a long time, and the present volume presents yet another effort, including the critical text edited by Donato Pirovano and the French translation by Bruno Pinchard. This volume received the Prix de l’Académie française Mabillon in 2025.