Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 –1375) was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular. Boccaccio is particularly notable for his dialogue, of which it has been said that it surpasses in verisimilitude that of virtually all of his contemporaries, since they were medieval writers and often followed formulaic models for character and plot. In essence, he was one of the first authors to depart from the old way and venture into new forms of writing that would come to shape renowned Renaissance writers like Dante and Niccolo Machiavelli.
The Decameron is a collection of 100 novellas that Boccaccio probably began writing around 1350 and finished between 1351-1353. It is a medieval allegorical work best known for its bawdy tales of love, appearing in all its possibilities from the erotic to the tragic. Other topics such as wit and witticism, practical jokes and worldly initiation also form part of the mosaic. Beyond its entertainment and literary popularity it remains an important historical document of life in the fourteenth century, and it was very influential with later authors such as Geoffrey Chaucer.
This edition of The Decameron is specially formatted with a Table of Contents.
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