tales from the decameron of giovanni boccaccio

Bound in contemporary English calf ruled in blind, neatly rebacked retaining the original spine, corners mended, later end-leaves. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose. In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (for example on Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales), it provides a document of life at the time. Tales of wit, practical jokes, and life lessons contribute to the mosaic. The various tales of love in The Decameron range from the erotic to the tragic. Boccaccio probably conceived the Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353.

The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city.

The Decameron is a collection of novellas by the 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (1313â '1375). Folio, 2 volumes, bound in full morocco by Riviere, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, all edges gilt, errata leaf at end of volume one, B1 is a cancellans, woodcut titles each with 6 vignettes, 98 woodcut vignettes in text chiefly repeating the title vignettes, woodcut initials, head- and tail-pieces. First edition in English of Boccaccio's masterpiece, published by Jaggard published three years prior to his printing of the Shakespeare First Folio.

Tales from the decameron of giovanni boccaccio