Boccace

1569 · 746 — Paris: Morel 1569. Hardcover. Fair. The last Italian novel that Boccaccio prepared Il Corbaccio The Crow; around this time 1354-55 a.d. and after Boccaccio primarily focused on Latin works. This copy is a 1569 edition in the original Italian but printed in France by Morel but Morel Italianized his name to appeal to Italians on the title page. This novel finds some disfavor with modern readers. In this work a man is being rebutted by a widow but upon falling asleep her dead husband visits him and confides in him all the ways she's best left alone. In concert the sleeping man and the dead man decide to write this work warning young men of the deceits of some women. The work has since been dubbed ""misogynistic"" despite at almost the same time Boccaccio preparing his Latin work recording a selection of noble women De Claris Mulieribus. Other's claim that surely Boccaccio must have been jilted by a widow to write such a scathing work. About Boccaccio - Giovanni Boccaccio 1313 – 1375 was an Italian writer poet correspondent of Petrarch and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo he became so well known as a writer that he was sometimes simply known as ""the Certaldese"" and one of the most important figures in the European literary panorama of the fourteenth century. Some scholars including Vittore Branca define him as the greatest European prose writer of his time a versatile writer who amalgamated different literary trends and genres making them converge in original works thanks to a creative activity exercised under the banner of experimentalism. His most notable work is The Decameron. About the Printer from the website Printing in France - ""In 1549 Morel decided like many before him to get involved in the book trade. He became a proof-reader for Charlotte Guillard d. 1557 one of the famous woman printers of sixteenth-century Paris. In 1557 Morel decided to become a printer himself following the death of Charlotte Guillard in the same year. By 1570 Fédéric I Morel was one of the most prestigious printers in Paris. It is thus not surprising to see him being appointed royal printer on 4 March 1571 following the move by his wife’s cousin Robert II Estienne to Geneva."" Provenance - Ex-libris plate of George Benson Weston a Harvard and Columbia graduate who edited a work on Italian literature. Also his inscription stating that he bought the book in Naples in 1904. Also the ticket of the Naples bookseller F. Casella established 1852. Bibliographic Details - Universal Short Title Catalogue USTC number 130039 found in many of the world's best libraries. Pettegree Walsby and Wilkinson - 58272 Physical Attributes - Measures approx. 11 x 17 x 1.75 cm. Signed in 8 octavo. Hardcover. Marbled paper covering pasteboards and a leather spine. Spine broken into six compartments by five gilt fillet lines title in gilt in one compartment five compartments with a blind tool roll of circles and palm fronds making the top and bottom border. Edges sprinkled brown. Pages - xvi 174 all numbered pages present but missing one blank leaf. Collation - A-G8 H7 I-L8 missing H8 a blank leaf that went between two sections and was not included in the numbering which is perhaps why it was removed Condition - This copy missing one blank leaf which would be the 8th leaf in the H gathering between two sections. Binding with some wear at edges corners and spine. Bookseller ticket and ex libris of George Beson Weston on pastedown. Blank unnumbered endpapers stating “Gamba 205 and that Weston purchased the book “Naples July 5 1904”. Some toning and foxing throughout. Occasional thumb. Title page with an old manuscript provenance inscription under the title. A manuscript note in the fore-edge margin of page 111. Morel