1578 Le Decamerone de Maistre Jean Bocace, Giovanni Boccaccio. Gautier, Palays

The first volume (first five "journee", of ten) of a 1578 French edition of Boccaccio's Decameron, translated to French by Antoine le Macon, and printed for the Parisian bookseller Claude Gautier. This edition printed in the 16mo size (but signed in eight) with a handful of illustrations and translated into French by Antoine le Macon; bibliographies note that Macon was true to the original text and didn't censor the "offensive" stories.

Of interest, the title page has a manuscript "Rob. Wrights" written in an old hand. In the early 17th century, a book was published by the "Minister", Robert Wright, titled A Receyt to Stay the Plague (1625 and again 1630). Now, Robert Wright was a popular name and I cannot say they are one and the same, but it is an interesting correlation.

This copy is missing the last leaf, which had an "Aux Lecteurs", and a woodcut of Boccaccio; Google books has a scanned copy, and I printed out a facsimile on acid-free laid artists paper so you can have the full context of this volume.

This is only the first part (volume), through the first five days (days here called a "journee"). There was a second volume printed also, but it is not included in this sale.

About the Decameron -

The Decameron is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city. Boccaccio probably conceived of The Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353. The various tales of love in The Decameron range from the erotic to the tragic. Tales of wit, practical jokes, and life lessons contribute to the mosaic. In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (for example on Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales), it provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose. - Wikipedia

About Boccaccio -

Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. He was known par excellence 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. - Wikipedia

About Antoine le Macon and the Translation -

A Royal councillor and treasurer for war, Le Maçon became private secretary to Margaret, Queen of Navarre. To please the princess, who loved letters and novels, he undertook a translation into French of Boccaccio's Decameron, the first made directly from the original Italian, which was printed in Lyon by Roville, and in Paris by Olivier Harsy, in 1569. This translation retained the strength of the Italian in all the "offensive" episodes, none of which were bowdlerised. - Wikipedia

Bibliographic Details -

Universal Short Title Catalogue 38686 and 56199; six copies recorded in the world's libraries.

French Vernacular Books, Pettegree, Walsby and Wilkinson, reference 6123

Physical Attributes -

Volume one only. Measures approx. 12 x 7.5 x 3 cm. Slipcase. Leather binding. Boards with a double frame consisting of an inner frame of rolled leaves and roses in gilt and an outer gilt single fillet. Spine with four raised bands; title and author in gilt in one compartment, four compartments with a central medallion in gilt. Text block edges retrimmed.

Pages - xxxx, 356 (each leaf numbered individually).

Collation - a8, e8, i4, a-z8, A-X8, Y1 (Y2 supplied in facsimile)

Condition -

See pictures. Little wear to slipcase. Spine sunned. Slightest crazing along joints. Binder’s endpaper facing title page with bookseller notes. Text block toned throughout, with occasional rust spot, dog-eared page, page-edge chip, etc. Hint of moisture mark just at bottom edge throughout (marginal).

Title page with name, “Rob. Wrights” and edits to the date in manuscript, also dog-eared and page-edge chipped. Several small worm holes near top of title page. Tiny worm track in fore-edge margin of a gathering. Sometimes trimmed tight at top-edge clipping header. Bottom corner of k1 chipped. Some ink thumbing on s8.