This anthology of newly-translated texts covers the single most important branch of medieval literary theory and criticism-the commentary tradition-in one of the most significant periods of its development. Fully annotated with notes and introductions, the selections encompass a wide range of topics-including authorship, ethics, symbolism, biography, poetics, allegory, and semiotics-and represent many important writers-including Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Grosseteste, Abelard, and Peter Lombard.