Vita Nuova (New Life) stands as Dante's earliest significant work. In the book Vita Nuova: A Translation and an Essay (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1973), translator and editor Mark Musa presents 31 poems accompanied by explanatory prose, delving into Dante's affection for Beatrice Portinari.

Dependable English translations of Dante's lyrics are available in Dante's Lyric Poetry (2 volumes, translated and annotated by Kenelm Foster and Patrick Boyde, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967).

In Literary Criticism of Dante Alighieri (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1973), Robert S. Haller compiles, translates, and edits Dante's own literary writings, including the notable "Letter to Can Grande," where Dante elucidates the method of reading and comprehending his Divine Comedy.

Saint Augustine's Confessions significantly influenced Dante. A highly regarded translation by R. S. Pine-Coffin (Confessions, by Saint Augustine (354-430), translated by R. S. Pine-Coffin, Harmondsworth: Penguin Classics, 1961) makes this work accessible for students.

The Consolation of Philosophy by Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (475-525?), a Roman philosopher and statesman, addresses crucial philosophical issues of free will and predestination, themes also explored by Dante in Divine Comedy. Richard Green's translation of this work is the standard English version for students (The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, translated with an introduction and notes by Richard Green, The Library of Liberal Arts, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1962).

Giovanni Boccaccio and Leonardo Bruni Aretino, both notable authors, penned early biographies of Dante. Boccaccio's biography was written about fifty years after Dante's death, with Aretino's following shortly thereafter. These biographies, translated by James Robinson Smith, can be found in The Earliest Lives of Dante (1901; rpt. New York: Ungar, 1963).

Even though Dante never read Homer's epic The Odyssey, he was familiar with its plot and likely admired Homer's genius. Odysseus' journey to the Underworld influenced Virgil, whose Aeneid served as Dante's poetic inspiration. A commendable translation of The Odyssey is by Robert Fitzgerald (New York: Vintage Classics, 1961, 1963).

John Milton's Paradise Lost, the great Protestant epic of the seventeenth century, narrates the fall of Adam and Eve and, in some respects, comments on Dante's Catholic Comedy. Scott Eledge's edition of Paradise Lost is an excellent choice (New York: W. W. Norton, 1975).

Readers of Dante's works should have a reliable Bible with thorough notes and cross-references. The New English Bible with the Apocrypha: The Oxford Study Edition (general editor, Samuel Sandmel, New York: Oxford University Press, 1976) is an outstanding edition for students.

Virgil guides Dante's Pilgrim through Hell and to Beatrice in Purgatory. Virgil's own epic, The Aeneid, recounts Aeneas' founding of Rome. This epic, along with much of Virgil's poetry, deeply influenced Dante. Aeneas' journey to the Underworld in Aeneid 6 served as a template for Dante's Pilgrim's descent into hell. A superb translation of Virgil's epic is The Aeneid of Virgil, translated by Allen Mandelbaum, 1961 (reprint, New York: Bantam Books, 1985).