Dante's the Divine Comedy - Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso

The Divine Comedy describes Dante's descent into Hell with Virgil as a guide; his ascent of Mount Purgatory and encounter with his dead love, Beatrice; and finally, his arrival in Heaven.

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) was a poet and politician. Born into a noble Florentine family in a city torn apart by rival clans, Dante became embroiled in this sectarianism and was banished from the city in 1302. He wrote Divine Comedy while in exile and this translation is by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the American lyric poet.

Gustave Doré (1832-1883) was a French artist and illustrator who worked primarily with wood-engraving. His famed illustrations include those for Milton's Paradise Lost, Dante's Divine Comedy and Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) is considered one of the most widely known and best-loved American poets of the 19th century. Born into a Portland, Maine, he was the first American to earn a living solely as a poet and was also the first American to translate Dante's Divine Comedy into English. He travelled in Europe extensively and took a seat as Smith Professor of Modern Languages at Harvard University.