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Sagittarius Rising
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Folio Society Published Works Number 1610

Boccaccio, Giovanni - The Decameron Limited Edition

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Boccaccio, Giovanni - The Decameron Limited Edition (Published in by The Folio Society in 2007. Bound in Nigerian goatskin, blocked with an abstract design by Jeff Clements, containing motifs of medieval windows and male and female symbols. Separate leather titling label. Top-edge gilding. Ribbon marker. Presented in a buckram-bound solander box, together with a booklet 'The Happy Art of Narration: Readings of Boccaccio and the Decameron' by selected writers. Translated by Richard Aldington and illustrated with 20 aquatints by John Buckland-Wright. Set in Poliphilus. 712 pages. 10 x 6¼. Number 1635 of a limited edition of 1750 copies. It is immediately clear from Boccaccio's stories that he delighted in bawdy humour, witty repartée and the feats of tricksters. Nuns sneak their lovers into the convent, noblewomen invent clever stories to fool their husbands and priests succeed in seducing local peasant girls. Yet one also finds tales of true love, nobility of spirit and sincere piety – Ghismonda drinks poison from the cup containing her lover's heart rather than live without him, whilst Gualtieri's foolishness and unjust treatment of his wife Griselda does not affect her steadfastness. Boccaccio discovered the seeds for his tales in French, Italian, Latin and even oriental sources, and his stories went on to be hugely influential on other writers. Shakespeare borrowed plots from the Decameron, while writers as diverse as Molière, Lope de Vega, and Keats found inspiration within its pages. As a rich feast of visual imagery, the book's settings, story-telling sessions and characters proved irresistible to artists in every age. )

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