Dataset
Dante Acronym, Acrostic, and Telestic Searchable (Italian) Database: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso
(2022)
Description
This Excel database provides a convenient tool for searching for acronyms (horizontal acrostics), acrostics or telestics, and mesostics involving the first/last words, of each line in the three cantiche of Dante’s La Commedia Divina. The data was compiled from a base text downloaded from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1012/1012-0.txt. The line and tercet records display orthographic word and letter counts, and first letters and last letters of each Italian word. To accommodate Dante’s ingenious linked rhyming scheme involving sequential line triplets, a summary record appears after each line triplet, or tercet, that displays the combination of counts and letters from all three of the preceding lines, to enable the capture of any horizontal acronyms that might span multiple lines within any given tercet. Each line/tercet record is tagged by book name and canto/line reference, and each column-field may be searched and manipulated with Excel Auto-Filter.
After the last line of each canto, a canto-level summary, also tagged with a final underline character, displays word and letter count sums. Each canto-level record contains two extra letter displays; the four columns of letters in the canto records contain the following sequences:
Initial (First) = the initial letters of the first word of each line,
Final (First) = the final letters of the first word of each line,
Initial (Last) = the initial letters of the last word of each line, and
Final (Last) = the final letters of the last word of each line.
The characters in the letter fields have been stripped of all diacriticals, and are separated by spaces. Thus, a search for “pvm”, the initials of Publius Vergilius Maro, may be implemented by entering the sequence p-space-v-space-m in the Excel “Find and Replace” search box (CTRL-F). Initial letters of Commedia proper names are normally in upper case, but the default Excel search will find both lower and upper case instances of whatever letters are entered. Note also that the “Within” option in that “Find and Replace” tool allows the search to cover only the active worksheet, or all worksheets in the active workbook.
This particular database contains three tabbed charts, one each for Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The file may be opened and used with Excel 2007 or later, or with generic spreadsheet software such as OpenOffice or LibreOffice. If for any reason the records in a table are out of order, selecting an A to Z Auto-Filter sort in the "Line · Tercet · Canto" column will restore the table to its original order.
Disciplines
Publication Date
Summer 2022
Citation Information
Keith L Yoder. "Dante Acronym, Acrostic, and Telestic Searchable (Italian) Database: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso" (2022) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/klyoder/66/