The American Alighieri

Abstract

chapter, writing long comments and emails, and showing tremendous perseverance by working with me almost solely by email. More than teaching me to be a better writer, editor, and researcher, Ed has shown me how to be a mentor. Hopefully I can do for others at least a small fraction of what he's done for me. I sincerely thank him for everything. The English Department at the University of Iowa and many friends and colleagues there were helpful in numerous ways, including Cherie Hansen-Rieskamp, Adam Bradford, and Rob McLoone. The staffs at the University of Iowa libraries, the Michener library at the University of Northern Colorado, and the Widener and Houghton libraries at Harvard University were tremendously helpful in the research for this dissertation. I could not have completed this work without the massive digital libraries, accessible from nearly anywhere, on Google Books, Proquest's American Periodical Series database, and the Walt Whitman Archive. Internet access to numerous works saved me a tremendous amount of time and travel expense. I thank my dissertation committee-Matt Brown, Laura Rigal, Kathleen Diffley, and Deborah Contrada-for their time in reading, critiquing, and offering advice. As an early Americanist, diving into the world of Dante was an unexpected and unusual task. Books and commentaries by Dorothy Sayers, Charles Till Davis, Erich Auerbach, and Teodolinda Bartolini were helpful. I found Giuseppe Mazzotta's books and online course to be not only instructive and profound, but also inspirational for this project. Even though I do not know him personally, he taught me much. During the project, I gained a deep appreciation for Dante himself, who in my view is the master craftsman of poets. I'd like to acknowledge some odd beginnings for parts of this project. Much of this dissertation was created in the oilfields of northern Colorado, where I worked while writing it. While in the oilfield, walking through snow and driving on roads that aren't even dirt patches, I listened to numerous audiobooks as I tried to think about how to structure this dissertation and its various arguments; the most memorable books, which oddly led to great insights into this project, were those by Niall Ferguson, Anthony Trollope, and Terry Pratchett. (Pratchett's novels especially provided welcome humor, and Great A'Tuin's sluggish trek through the universe provided a nice metaphor for this dissertation's pace.) Somewhere in this dissertation, perhaps, is Ferguson's critique of World War I, the county of Barchestershire, and Discworld. Finally, my family deserves more than I could ever give them back. To thank them justly would take up too many books. My parents and brother are wonderful. 'Lias, Boppy, and Giddy are the best kids any dad could have. My dear wife Cailan is the world. I love her dearly.