Morgante and Orlando innamorato: the digital texts |
by Marco Dorigatti and David Robey
Introduction |
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The Pulci and Boiardo texts used in this database are derived from those prepared in machine-readable form some time ago by Marco Dorigatti and David Robey for purposes of text-searching and other forms of computer analysis, in a project financed by the British Academy. Click on the links above for the full versions of these texts; for reasons of legibility the annotations desribed below under Editorial Symbols have been removed from the versions which appear in or are accessed from the database Results and Browse texts pages.
Both texts were transcribed by means of an optical character reader, the Kurzweil Data Entry Machine, then extensively checked and revised: see details below. Their preparation was made possible by the facilities provided by the Oxford University Computing Service (OUCS). See also David Robey and Marco Dorigatti's 'Morgante and Orlando innamorato: Machine-readable texts, concordances, rhyme dictionaries', The Italianist, X (1990), 204-10.
The notes below explain the constitution of the texts used in the database, but are mainly intended to accompany the full edited versions: see the Full edited text of Morgante and the Full edited text of Orlando innamorato.
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The text is based on that edited by R. Ramat for Rizzoli Editore, Milano 1961 (see Abbreviations), but has undergone extensive proof-reading and editing. All departures from that edition are recorded with in every case Ramat's reading as well as the name of the editor whose reading has been preferred. This ensures that at least one printed edition is faithfully reproduced, so that the user who wishes to revert to Ramat's edition may do so.
Any work on Morgante would be incomplete without taking into account F. Ageno's edition, Milano-Napoli 1955 (see Abbreviations). Both Ageno's and Ramat's are critical editions, though the latter is not quite independent of the former. A close scrutiny of the two editions has revealed that Ramat used Ageno's as copy-text, as shown by errors and inconsistencies common to both of them. Even so, in trying to adhere more closely to the original texts Ramat made a considerable number of improvements (a list of these can be found in his Nota al testo, pp. 1256-58); hence our preference of it. On the other hand Ageno's edition, one of the best of Morgante ever produced, can neither be disregarded nor discounted. For this reason we have tried to give within curly brackets all textual divergences between the two editions, so as to provide, ideally, a combined view of both.
However, although every care has been taken in identifying such variant readings (including Ageno's Errata corrige), the editors cannot guarantee completeness. In particular, the considerable differences of punctuation between the two editions have generally been ignored. While making Ramat's edition the basis of our text, we have corrected obvious errors and rectified certain inconsistencies, notably in the use of accents and other diacritical marks. Whenever possible we have done so by relying on Ageno's text. It seemed convenient, for example, to retain Ageno's clear distinction between fe' (fece) and fé (fede), against Ramat's confusion of the two. In those few instances where both texts seemed at fault we have made our own editorial intervention. All these changes are marked in full version of the text, with both Ramat's and Ageno's readings.
In order to maintain a strictly sequential order of references Pulci's closing prayer to the Virgin at the end of the poem has been joined to the last cantare, thus forming stanzas 153-155.
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Our machine-readable text of the Orlando innamorato was prepared before the publication of the more recent edition by Antonia Tissoni Benvenuti and Cristina Montagnani: L'inamoramento de Orlando, in M. M. Boiardo, Opere, Tomo 1, parts 1 and 2 (Milan: Ricciardi, 1999). Our text is based on that edited by A. Zottoli for the series 'I Classici Mondadori' (see Abbreviations below), but has undergone extensive proof-reading and editing. All departures from that edition are recorded with in every case Zottoli's reading as well as the name of the editor whose reading has been preferred. This ensures that at least one printed edition, arguably the best until recently, is faithfully reproduced, so that the user who wishes to revert to Zottoli's edition may do so.
In the then absence of a truly critical edition a conservative edition, i.e. one as close as possible to the early texts, seemed the best solution for the purposes of a machine-readable version. Accordingly, where we made changes or additions to Zottoli's text, we generally did so in order to conform more closely to the early manuscript and printed texts as cited by Zottoli himself. Only a few modern editorial conjectures were retained in passages which demonstrably suffered from corruption in transmission, and in others where the emendation might have proved too radical or controversial.
We also rectified certain inconsistencies in Zottoli's use of diacritical marks, and in a few cases normalized the use of accents and punctuation. All these changes are marked in the text. The main aim was to provide the most reliable text possible in the circumstances, so as to assist in the production of concordances, rhyme dictionaries, and related statistical data.
The user should perhaps be aware of the presence of some unfamiliar spellings, found in the original texts and here retained following Zottoli. These include forms such as, for example: abstinenza, adviene, adviso, advistata, -anzia (e.g. abundanzia), baptizato, [cir]constante, conscienza, -enzia (e.g. esperienzia, licenzia, pacienzia), essempio (3.7.5944), et, Ector (2.28.2.3), excetto, florito, instrumenti, monstro, nimfa, octavo, optimo, secundo, sequente, subiugato, triomfo. Moreover their use appears side by side with the more familiar forms, and is far from being systematic, reflecting as it does the author's and the early printers' practice. Similarly, there is constant variation between single and double consonants in a given word (e.g. abandonare and abbandonare), and between diphthongized and non-diphthongized vowels (e.g. guerriero and guerrero).
Perhaps the most conspicuous novelty of the present text is the inclusion of a stanza (2.31.49) which has not been incorporated in the poem for quite a long time, but which figures in some of the earliest editions. It has been added in the belief that it is by Boiardo, and not least to restore sense to the neighbouring stanzas to which this one is clearly connected. As a result, the last canto of the second book now totals 51 stanzas.
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These are used in the full edited texts (see List of contents for links).
{add} … {/add; Ramat's and Ageno's or Zottoli's readings}
Matter added to, or departure from, Ramat's or Zottoli's edition by the
present editors
{ed} … {/ed editor's name}
Parts missing in the original texts and supplied within square [ ] or angle
< > brackets by the editor named
{it} … {/it}
Italics
{t}
… {/t editor's name; alternative reading followed by editor's name}
Textual variant reading: editor whose reading has been accepted, followed by
reading which has been rejected
{v}
… {/v reference; variant(s) followed by reference}
Orlando innamorato only: variants in
manuscript or early editions: a highly selective list representing some of
the major textual cruces
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Morgante
Orlando innamorato
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These are represented as follows:
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1st-level direct speech
2nd-level direct speech 3rd-level direct speech In Boiardo, thought, also proverbs, written notices, etc. |
| © University of Reading 2007 | Last revised on 23 December 2007 |