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Boccaccio (1587) -
Il Decameron, Boccacio’s most famous
work, was penned between 1351 and 1353. The
title comes from the Greek deca meaning ten,
and hemera meaning day which refers to the
framework of the story. Set in the year of
the Black Death [1348], seven ladies and three
gallants meet in a Florentine Church where
they decide to flee the city to the hills
of Fiesole. There they entertain themselves
by recounting stories all of the ten days.
The Decameron is composed of more than one
hundred novelle composed of anecdotes, fabliaux,
folk stories and fairy tales–all of ancient
lineage for the contemporary audience of the
fourteenth century.
The compilation includes many influential
and celebrated stories that were recycled,
especially by Shakespeare. “Bernabo of
Tenou was the plot of Cymbeline; “Gillette
of Narbonne” of All’s Well that
ends well. As late as 1820, John Keats used
Isabella or the Pot of Basil as the substance
of his poem as well as the title. |
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Lesser
known than his contemporary and companion
Petrarch, Boccacio nevertheless is credited
with the initial introduction of their style
and content, the first in the Italian or
European canon of literature. He is entitled
to a place beside Petrarch as founder of
the Italian Renaissance.
The
Giunti publishing family were the great
rivals of the Aldine Press as the Giunti
aggressively captured large portions of
the lucrative Italian governmental and Church's
printing business. Their printing enterprise
spread from Italy, to Spain and France between
1489 to 1628. From their base in Florence
and Venice, family members set up printing
presses in Burgos, Salamanca, Madrid, Valladolid,
Lerma and Lyons.
16 p.l., 585, [79] p.
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Mounted
title page; Signatures: * 2, 3, 4 ^ [8]; **
2, 3, 4 ^ [8]; a 2, 3, 4 ^ [8]; b 2, 3, 4,
^ [8]; c 2, 3, 4 ^ [8]; d 2, 3, 4 ^ [8]; e
- z 2, 3, 4 ^ [8] / aa, bb, cc - hh, 2, 3,
4 ^ [8]; ii [misbound] r 497 v 498; ii 2 [499];
ii 3, [501]; ii 3 v [506]; [ii 4 r] 507; [ii
4 v] 504; [ii 5 r] 505; [ii 5 v] 502; ii 4
r [503] v [508]; [ii 6 r] 509 : kk, 2, 3,
4 ^ [8]; ll, mm, 2, 3, 4 ^ [8]; nn 2, 3, 4
^ [8], [nn 8 verso] 176; oo recto [75] verso
[578];] oo 2, oo 3 ^[6]: oo 5 r [585] v, register
followed by colophon with place printer &
date; oo 6 recto [blank], verso, printer’s
device. end of pagination. // [79]pp., Tavola
Sopra Il Libro Chiamato Decameron Proemio:
signatures: pp 2, 3, 4 ^ [8]; qq - ss 2, 3,
4 ^ [8]; tt 2, 3, ^ [6]: tt 5 r: errori; tt
5 v errori con’t, followed by register,
colophon with place, printer & date; tt
6 r [blank], v, earlier printer’s device.
References : Adams B174.
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"The
Incas: Or, the Destruction of the Empire of Peru"
(1777) -
Marmontel,
Jean Francois. The Incas: Or, the Destruction of
the Empire of Peru ; in two volumes. Dublin: Printed
for Messrs. Price, Whitestone, W. Watson et. al.,
1777. Bound in contemporary full tree calf, red
and black calf gilt spine labels, in paneled gilt.
12mo., in two volumes: vol I, xxxi, 263; vol II,
289pp.
$450
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Faerne "Fables" (1744) -
18th
century engravings by Claude Du Bosc
Faerne, Gabriel. Cent Fables En Latin et en Francois,
choisies des Anciens ; et traduites par Mr. Perrault;
Avec de nouvelles Figures en Taille-douce (Claude
Du Bosc). Nouvelle Edition. London: C. Marsh et
al., 1744. Contemporary full green crushed morocco,
edges scuffed with small loss to back board ,
spine titles in gilt, raised bands, gilt rule;
marbled end pages, marbled edges, wide margins.
Sq. 8vo., [2] 20, 238, index to fables; 45 [2].
Engraved frontispiece, title page, 100 engraved
plates by Charles Du Bosc. Text in Latin and French,
translated by Charles Perrault.
This
edition contains, as did the 1743 Du Bosc edition,
a good deal of material beyond the fables, including
the preface of the London editor, the Carmina
and Opuscula of Faerno, dedications, letters,
and testimonia. Perrault first published his French
translation of Faerno in 1699 and again in 1714.
In all there are five books with twenty fables
in each. Du Bosc's copper engravings depict mostly
animals illustrating the fables, and are 'very
beautifully done'. Faerno's Latin verse fables
were first published in 1563, two years after
his death. Perrault's translation was published
previously as stated above, but, according to
the title page, this is the first edition with
these illustrations. Charles Perrault had the
good taste to recognize that it was impossible
to compare his translation, or even the original,
with the fables of Jean Of the Fountain.
Ours, says it, resemble a dress of good fabric,
a well cut and well bent, but simple and all plain:
his have something moreover, and it adds to it
a rich person and fine embroidery which raises
the price of them infinitely. Scarce.
$ 550.00
Gabriele
Faërne, Italian writer of the Rebirth.
Modern Latin poet born in Crémone in XVIe
century, died on November 17, 1561, had much success
by his scholarly writing on the humanities. He
was invited by the cardinal Jean Ange of Médicis
(Black and white IV), which attracted him to nearby
Rome. The foundation of his celebrity is a Collection
of Fables in Latin worms iambic, of a remarkable
elegance, which appeared for the first time in
Rome, 1564. It excelled correcting the old authors
and their best manuscripts. One cannot dispute
in Faërne to have been one of the best modern
Latin poets. The pope gave the responsibility
to choose the most beautiful fables of Esope and
to put them in worms. Faërne, discharged,
successfully this task. But his untimely death
did not enable him to complete its work. The incomplete
work was published two years after his death on
order of the Black and white Pope IV. This collection
was translated into French worms by Perrault,
Paris, 1699 as Fables of Faërne. It went
through several editions as noted above. There
are several excellent resources for the history
and biographies of the fabulistes.
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L'Arte de Comedia by Caihava (1786) -
Caihava De L'estandoux, Jean-François. De
l'Art de la comédie, nouvelle édition.
Ouvrage dédié à Monsieur. À
Paris, De l'Imprimerie de Ph.-D. Pierres, 1786.
2 vol. in-8, xii, 403 pp.; [4], h.t., t.p., 427,[1]
pp. Contemporary tree calf, spine extra gilt, red
and green morocco pastedowns for title and author,
marbled end papers. A very elegant set. Cailhava
(1731-1813) playwright, poet, and critic wrote Treatise
of the Art of Comedy and a study on Shakespeare.
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FICORONI
(Francesco de'. Le Maschere Sceniche e le Figure
Comiche d'antichi Romani. Rome: A. de Rossi, 1736.
Large 4to, orig. boards.
Collation: 6 prel. leaves, pp. [1--8]. 9--227, (1);
84 engraved plates.
Bibliography Reference: Brunet II, 1245. Lipperheide
2288. Vinet 1825.
First Edition of this highly important study of
the classical Roman theater. The 84 finely engraved
plates that form the second part of the volume show
every conceivable kind of mask worn by the actors
to portray roles in the classical drama and there
is one double-page plate showing the masked actors
on stage.
The
plates are irregularly and misleadingly numbered.
Plate III is numbered “II”; there are
two plates 44; and plate 80 is omitted in the
numbering; but the total count of 84 plates agrees
with the collation given by Cicognara, No. 1652.
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