INFERNO d ant e aligh ieri hand-lettered & illuminated by george c oc h rane
p ro spe c tus
thor n wil l ow p r e ss Ars Omnia Tuetur
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oll ow ing a tr adit ion familiar to Dante, the Thornwillow Press edition of Inferno reproduces in letterpress the illuminated manuscript of George Cochrane. As established collectors already know, Thornwillow Press is noted for meticulously produced hand-made books that celebrate great art and great ideas. We involve the human hand at each turn, from letterpress printing the text to handbinding every volume. We have taken this love of handmade things to heart with Inferno. Acclaimed artist George Cochrane has hand-drawn every letter of Dante’s opus, both in the original Italian and Anthony Esolen’s critically acclaimed English translation, and has illustrated the margins. The result is a unique edition which marries the handwritten manuscript tradition of Dante’s time with the height of letterpress bookmaking. There is no autograph copy known to exist of Dante’s Commedia and the earliest datable manuscripts are from fifteen years after the poet’s death. These early manuscripts provide Cochrane’s inspi
ration for the edition. As Luigi Ballerini writes, “Cochrane’s illuminations give a new and formerly unsuspected spin to Dante’s Divine Comedy, in so far as they dialogue with both the medieval text, as it has been studiously copied through the centuries, and the visual illustrations flanking scribal editions as well as early prints.” The Commedia has inspired visual artists ranging from Botticelli to Blake, Doré to Rauschenberg to interpret the poem. Cochrane utilizes the illuminated manuscript format, while expanding the tradition by intermingling references to Dante-inspired artworks and illustrations by well-and lesser-known artists, including comic book artists. Cochrane’s goal is to present a more “accurate” picture of Dante’s poem as reflected in the text (rather than in a received, faulty iconography), while simultaneously suggesting the awesome dread and tender lightheartedness found throughout Dante’s masterpiece. Professor Wayne Storey writes, “With a careful eye on the early manuscripts of the Comedy, George
Cochrane brings heretofore unparalleled philological and historical rigor to his visual commentary of Dante’s Inferno, superseding the ‘smiling pages’ of Dante’s own celebrated illuminator Oderisi da Gubbio (Purg XI). Cochrane’s illustrations are the most textually and critically informed visual glosses of the Inferno that we have to date, and set a new standard for future illustrators, who will have to face the challenge of the years of study and passion that Cochrane brings to his Dante.” After three years of work, Thornwillow Press is bringing this masterpiece to print, in a letterpress and hand-bound edition. To order copies of Inferno and for information on other titles in our collection, please email the press at mail@thornwillow.com, call (845) 569-8883 or visit thornwillow.com
A sample page featuring George Cochrane’s hand-lettering and marginal illustration. Actual size. Inferno is Thornwillow’s sixty-sixth publication. Printed letterpress and hand-bound. thor nw il l ow pr e ss : a rs o m n ia tuetur
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