This is an auction for THE DECAMERON OF GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO.

Two Folio Society hardbacks in their original slipcase.

Translated by Richard Aldington.

Aquatints by Buckland-Wright.

From Wikipedia:

""THE DECAMERON is a collection of 100 novellas by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio, probably begun in 1350 and finished in 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. Some believe many parts of the tales are indebted to the influence of The Book of Good Love. Many notable writers such as Chaucer are said to have drawn inspiration from it... THE DECAMERON is structured in a frame narrative, or frame tale. It is considered to be the first novel and was finished by Giovanni Boccaccio in 1353. It opens with a description of the bubonic plague (Black Death) and leads into an introduction of a group of seven young women and three young men who have fled from plague-ridden Florence for a villa outside of Naples. To pass the time, each member of the party tells one story for every one of the tens nights spent at the villa. THE DECAMERON is a distinctive work, in that it describes in detail the physical, psychological and social effects that the bubonic plague had on that part of Europe. It is also interesting to note that a number of the stories contained within the Decameron would later appear in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. However, it is unclear as to whether or not Chaucer had known of THE DECAMERON . . . "

More on Wikipedia.

Folio Society hardbacks 1954.

718 pages in the two volumes.

A previous owner's bookplate. Otherwise, good condition.

The cost of shipping is:

• North Island: $8.95 (tracked mail); $11.95 for Rural Delivery
• South Island: $13.95 (tracked mail); $16.95 for Rural Delivery

There is of course no charge for shipping if you collect these books from my shop in Palmerston North following the auction.

Payment within seven days, please.