Torquato Tasso’s Rime d’amore: Text, Variants, Bibliography

This essay examines the editorial tradition of Torquato Tasso’s Rime d’amore (love lyrics). Beginning with a general overview of the manuscript and printed traditions, the various stages in which the textual history of the edition has been divided by the Edizione Nazionale delle opere di Torquato Tasso (National Edition of Torquato Tasso’s Literary Works) will be analyzed, with special attention devoted to issues of authorial revision and structural rearrangement. After clarifying some crucial points concerning Tasso’s final intention, especially by means of his own letters from the periods in question, an alternative solution to the critical edition of Tasso’s Rime will be proposed.