Gustave Pradeau
A Key to the Time Allusions in the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri.
London, Methuen & Co., 1902.207 x 140 mm. 32 pages. Illustrated with two diagrams on p. 29 and p. 30. Originall blue cloth. Title in gilt lettering on the spine and front cover. The volume contains the so-called ‘bussola dantesca', a disc in cardboard representing the earth, with the indication of the places quoted and described in the Commedia, and the position of the constellations. A very good copy. slightly browned the half-title.
Provenance: the English clergyman Arthur James Mason (ex-libris on the front pastedown ‘Arthur James Mason, D. D., Master of Pembroke College & Canon of Canterbury'); Livio Ambrogio collection.
The author of this ‘bussola dantesca' explains, in the preface, the idea born from the desire of having astronomical data on the Commedia. The volume also contains the user guide for the bizarre instrument.