Written by ten distinguished Dante scholars, the essays in Dante Now represent the most significant areas of contemporary Dante studies. This collection, originating from a 1993 University of Notre Dame conference, includes some of the particular on three intensely cultivated areas of Dante studies: poetics, "minor works," and reception.

In the early spring of 1358 Francis Petrarch was invited by his friend Giovanni Mandelli, a leading military and political figure of Visconti Milan, to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Pleased at the invitation, Petrarch nevertheless declined to undertake the journey. Fear of the sea, of shipwreck, and of slow death and nausea worse than death held him back. While Petrarch would not make the literal journey he offered Mandelli a pilgrimage guide instead of his companionship: nevertheless, I shall be with you in spirit, and since you have requested it, I will accompany you with this...