An Introduction to the Study of Dante Author:John Addington-Symonds John Addington Symonds (1840-1893).was one of the foremost men of letters of his time. He was a preeminent Victorian poet, critic, and historian. He is renowned for his reviews, essays, translations, art histories, and poetry. Symonds joined the rarified ranks of John Ruskin and Walter Pater as a major arbiter of Victorian taste. His books Re... more »naissance in Italy and Life of Michelangelo are landmarks of 19th-century literary scholasticism. "My sole purpose was to make the study of Dante's works more easy to English readers."« less