Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) composed the Divine Comedy over a period of 12 years, finally completing it in 1320. He divided the poem into three parts - Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso - and it is the first canto from Inferno that we have reproduced for this cover. Though no original manuscripts have survived, this 14th-century copy is one of the earliest produced.The Divine Comedy was instrumental in establishing the literature of Italy. Dante's imaginative vision of the afterlife is emblematic of the medieval worldview and, though written as a religious poem, his depictions of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven have inspired writers and artists from all backgrounds in the centuries since.