DEL LUNGO, ISIDORO. — Man of letters, born at Montevarchi on 20 December 1841, died at Florence on 4 May 1927. A pupil of the Piarists and one of the most revered teachers, he acknowledged that “the schools of a State in conflict with the Church are morally weak” (letter of 15 January 1873 to Cesare Guasti), and therefore hoped for a reconciliation between the two powers. A tenacious researcher, he assessed periods and figures without neglecting ethical criteria.
President of the Crusca, he contributed assiduously to the fifth edition of the Vocabolario. His skill as a scholar is associated above all with fourteenth-century Tuscany: Dante nei tempi di Dante (Bologna 1888); Dal secolo e dal poema di Dante (there 1898); La donna fiorentina del buon tempo antico (Florence 1906); I Bianchi e i Neri (Milan 1921). With La Cronica del Compagni (Florence 1879–87) and Storia esterna della Cronica (2 vols., Milan 1917–18), he sought to demonstrate, against Scheffert-Boichorst and other scholars, the authorship of Dino in regard to the Cronica. He contributed effectively to the national edition of Galileo’s works and promoted the Dante readings at Orsanmichele. His three volumes on Poliziano (Prose volgari inedite e poesie latine [Fi-
renze 1867]); Florentia: Uomini e cose del Quattrocento (there 1897); Le Selve e la Strega (there 1925) are fundamental, even though they have been superseded in textual criticism. His commentary on the Commedia (there 1926) is sober and precise.