first edition
1542 · Venice
by BOCCACCIO, Giovanni
Venice: Gabriele Giolito de Ferrari & Heirs of Bernardino Stagnino, 1542. Il Decamerone di Messer Giovanni Boccaccio. Connove e Varie Figure Nuouamente Corretto per Antonio Bruccioli Venice: Gabriele Giolito de Ferrari & Heirs of Bernardino Stagnino, 1542.
Full Description:
BOCCACCIO, Giovanni. Il Decamerone di Messer Giovanni Boccaccio Connove e Varie Figure Nuouamente Corretto per Antonio Bruccioli Venice: Gabriele Giolito de Ferrari & Heirs of Bernardino Stagnino, 1542.
This 1542 edition of Il Decamerone follows Giolito's first edition of 1538. This is the second of Giolito's editions of the Decamerone to have annotations and commentaries tailored for the lay reader by the Florentine humanist Antonio Brucioli and is dedicated to Madalena de Buonaiuti, a noblewoman from Florence who worked in the French court of Catherine de' Medici. Octavo (7 13/16 inches; 5 1/2 inches; 199 x 140 mm). [12], 260 leaves. With historiated initials and 10 woodcuts in the text. With an engraved title-page with medallion portrait of Boccaccio.
Beautifully bound by Bedford in full red morocco. Boards paneled and ruled in gilt and blind. With gilt central lozenge device on both boards. Spine is stamped and lettered in gilt. Gilt board edges. Gilt dentelles. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Some minor cracking to joints at head and tail of spine. Still a near fine copy.
"By choosing female dedicatees, Brucioli and Giolito implied that the book was meant for female readers... Giolito's next edition of Il Decamerone, issued in 1546, sought again to engage their interest, this time with a dedication to the Dauphine herself. In that book, Giolito reminds Catherine that he had dedicated his 1542 edition of Orlando Furioso to her husband, Henri II... and says it is only just, that his new edition of the Decamerone, containing things mostly about women, and written by its author for the sake of women, should bear the name." (Sotheby's)
"Decameron, [a] collection of tales by Giovanni Boccaccio, probably composed between 1349 and 1353. The work is regarded as a masterpiece of classical Italian prose. While romantic in tone and form, it breaks from medieval sensibility in its insistence on the human ability to overcome, even exploit, fortune. The Decameron comprises a group of stories united by a frame story. As the frame narrative opens, 10 young people (seven women and three men) flee plague-stricken Florence to a delightful villa in nearby Fiesole. Each member of the party rules for a day and sets stipulations for the daily tales to be told by all participants, resulting in a collection of 100 pieces. This storytelling occupies 10 days of a fortnight (the rest being set aside for personal adornment or for religious devotions); hence, the title of the book, Decameron, or "Ten Days' Work." Each day ends with a canzone (song), some of which represent Boccaccio's finest poetry." (Brittanica).
"This Italian edition of the Decameron has as its official title Il Decamerone, and was edited by a certain Gabriel Iolito di Ferrarii in Venice in the year 1542. Printed in Roman moveable type, the single volume text contains ten woodcut illustrations inserted into the text, one at the beginning of each day. The first and second days appear to illustrate the members of the brigata themselves, sitting, playing music, dancing and singing. The subsequent eight days commence with illustrations depicting scenes from the first story of each respective day. The prints are approximately 2 by 2 ½ inches in area, and they are printed on the same paper as the text, with no extra plates or cover sheets to protect them (as colored or hand-tipped prints sometimes have). The paper is fairly thin, and text from the verso of the paper is visible through the illustrations. There is not even the slightest attempt at cross-hatching in the prints, indicating either a lack of time or expertise on the part of the cutter - or perhaps a lack of significant value assigned to the prints themselves, as compared to the text and its relative value or prestige. A certain amount of value can be assumed regarding the volume as a whole, though, because the edges of the pages are gilded. The woodcuts themselves are relatively simple in composition. Most stories are illustrated with a single scene, with the exception of the story of Ruggieri (X.1), which is shown in two scenes within the usual size frame: on the left is shown Ruggieri on his mule as it relieves itself in the river, and on the right are Ruggieri and King Alfonso before two chests, one of which is opened to reveal a pile of earth." (Decameron Web, Brown University).
HBS 69238.
$3,500. (Inventory #: 69238)
Full Description:
BOCCACCIO, Giovanni. Il Decamerone di Messer Giovanni Boccaccio Connove e Varie Figure Nuouamente Corretto per Antonio Bruccioli Venice: Gabriele Giolito de Ferrari & Heirs of Bernardino Stagnino, 1542.
This 1542 edition of Il Decamerone follows Giolito's first edition of 1538. This is the second of Giolito's editions of the Decamerone to have annotations and commentaries tailored for the lay reader by the Florentine humanist Antonio Brucioli and is dedicated to Madalena de Buonaiuti, a noblewoman from Florence who worked in the French court of Catherine de' Medici. Octavo (7 13/16 inches; 5 1/2 inches; 199 x 140 mm). [12], 260 leaves. With historiated initials and 10 woodcuts in the text. With an engraved title-page with medallion portrait of Boccaccio.
Beautifully bound by Bedford in full red morocco. Boards paneled and ruled in gilt and blind. With gilt central lozenge device on both boards. Spine is stamped and lettered in gilt. Gilt board edges. Gilt dentelles. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Some minor cracking to joints at head and tail of spine. Still a near fine copy.
"By choosing female dedicatees, Brucioli and Giolito implied that the book was meant for female readers... Giolito's next edition of Il Decamerone, issued in 1546, sought again to engage their interest, this time with a dedication to the Dauphine herself. In that book, Giolito reminds Catherine that he had dedicated his 1542 edition of Orlando Furioso to her husband, Henri II... and says it is only just, that his new edition of the Decamerone, containing things mostly about women, and written by its author for the sake of women, should bear the name." (Sotheby's)
"Decameron, [a] collection of tales by Giovanni Boccaccio, probably composed between 1349 and 1353. The work is regarded as a masterpiece of classical Italian prose. While romantic in tone and form, it breaks from medieval sensibility in its insistence on the human ability to overcome, even exploit, fortune. The Decameron comprises a group of stories united by a frame story. As the frame narrative opens, 10 young people (seven women and three men) flee plague-stricken Florence to a delightful villa in nearby Fiesole. Each member of the party rules for a day and sets stipulations for the daily tales to be told by all participants, resulting in a collection of 100 pieces. This storytelling occupies 10 days of a fortnight (the rest being set aside for personal adornment or for religious devotions); hence, the title of the book, Decameron, or "Ten Days' Work." Each day ends with a canzone (song), some of which represent Boccaccio's finest poetry." (Brittanica).
"This Italian edition of the Decameron has as its official title Il Decamerone, and was edited by a certain Gabriel Iolito di Ferrarii in Venice in the year 1542. Printed in Roman moveable type, the single volume text contains ten woodcut illustrations inserted into the text, one at the beginning of each day. The first and second days appear to illustrate the members of the brigata themselves, sitting, playing music, dancing and singing. The subsequent eight days commence with illustrations depicting scenes from the first story of each respective day. The prints are approximately 2 by 2 ½ inches in area, and they are printed on the same paper as the text, with no extra plates or cover sheets to protect them (as colored or hand-tipped prints sometimes have). The paper is fairly thin, and text from the verso of the paper is visible through the illustrations. There is not even the slightest attempt at cross-hatching in the prints, indicating either a lack of time or expertise on the part of the cutter - or perhaps a lack of significant value assigned to the prints themselves, as compared to the text and its relative value or prestige. A certain amount of value can be assumed regarding the volume as a whole, though, because the edges of the pages are gilded. The woodcuts themselves are relatively simple in composition. Most stories are illustrated with a single scene, with the exception of the story of Ruggieri (X.1), which is shown in two scenes within the usual size frame: on the left is shown Ruggieri on his mule as it relieves itself in the river, and on the right are Ruggieri and King Alfonso before two chests, one of which is opened to reveal a pile of earth." (Decameron Web, Brown University).
HBS 69238.
$3,500. (Inventory #: 69238)