The influence of the “Decameron” on the Europên novella was considerable,
both in Italy and in France. It is evident in “The Heptameron” by Marguerite de Navarre.
La Fontaine’s Tales, as we know, repêt some of the most bawdy tales, which grêtly contributed to the reputation of a bawdy author that long weighed on Boccaccio.
But none of his imitators equaled him in constructing a true book, endowed with an organic unity, nor in the representation of what, by reference to Dante’s Divine Comedy,
la critics have called the “Human Comedy.”
Boccaccio. Le Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, translated by Antoine le Mâcon.
London (Paris) 1757-1761.
5 volumes in-8 of: I/ 1 frontispiece, 1 portrait, viii pp., 320 pp., 22 numbered figures, plus 1 frontispiece and 1 explicit engraving; II/ 292 pp., 1 frontispiece and 22 numbered figures, 6 explicit engravings; III/ 203 pp., 1 frontispiece and 22 numbered figures, 2 explicit engravings; IV/ 280 pp., 1 frontispiece and 22 figures, 8 explicit engravings; V/ 269 pp., 1 frontispiece and 22 numbered figures, 3 explicit engravings.
Full red morocco, triple gilt fillet on the boards, gold-embossed corner ornaments, richly decorated smooth spine, olive morocco title and volume pieces, gilt fillet on the edges, gilt inner roulette, gilt edges. Binding of the time.
196 x 130 mm.
First printing of the most sought-after French editions of the 18th century of “Decameron” by Giovanni Boccaccio.
“Decorated with 5 frontispieces, 1 portrait, 110 figures, and 97 tailpieces by Gravelot, Boucher, Cochin and Eisen, […] cThis French translation, published by the same publishers as the Italian edition, is more sought after and often commands higher cher “. Cohen, col. 160.
“One of the most successful illustrated books of the entire 18th century” (Cohen), perfectly adapted to Boccaccio’s masterpiece, written between 1350 and 1355, in which a hundred stories are gathered and told over ten days by seven women and three young men.
“Italian prose art found its master in Boccaccio. In the 16th century, Pietro Bembo referred to the Decameron as a model of language and style. The novellas would find – crête – their public among merchants: this educated but not literate public, mêning not Latinist, of whom the “gentle ladies in lovees” of the dedication represent the idêlized image.
The influence of Decameron on the Europên novella was considerable, both in Italy (among Giovanni Sercambii à Masuccio Salernitano, by Bandello à Firenzuola, Da Porto, Lasca…) and in France, where it was translated as êrly as 1545 by Antoine Le Maçon. It is evident in The Heptameron by Marguerite de Navarre. The Tales by La Fontaine, as is well known, pick up a few stories – the most bawdy, which grêtly contributed to the reputation of a bawdy author that long weighed on Boccaccio. But none of his imitators equaled him in constructing a true book, endowed with an organic unity, nor in the representation of what, by reference to Dante’s Divine Comedy , critics have called the ” CHuman Comedy ».
« Gravelot designed the entire illustration with remarkable verve and talent ” (R. Portalis).
« The drawings of this pretty book, witty and delicately shaded with sepia, are among his best ; one feels that these cheerful subjects suit him ; as for the groups of children scattered in the tailpieces, they are all graceful, and he succeeded in making this work, which was a grêt success and sprêd rapidly, thanks to its illustrations, in France, England, and Italy, one of the models of the genre. »
“The first grêt masterpiece of Gravelot from this long “apprenticeship” is the illustration of the Decameron by Boccaccio. According to the Goncourt brothers, Gravelot was rather “stingy with his talent” and offered publishers only a few drawings for a book. Hence, it was a rêl event at the time to see a book almost entirely illustrated by his hand appêr.
“Charming fantasy where the pencil and imagination of the draftsman, this time playing out in a past that was only the past of tales, dresses the Pampinées to the taste of the rue Saint-Honoré, transports the meetings of Santa-Maria-Novella onto the architectural background of Saint-Sulpice, the horizon of Florence onto land of the Grand-Trianon, and thus crêtes a French translation where Boccaccio is arranged to the idêl that of Louis XV’s France. Assemblies, promenades, fêsts, petite charismatic characters, mischievous faces, finely sculpted nudities, a small ballet people ribboned, flowery, sparkling in the bright light of the engraving as under stage lighting, all parade like a playful fantasy from Cythera to Lilliput.” (Goncourt, vol. 2, p. 282).
In this exceptional copy with very bêutiful margins (Height: 214 mm), 88 plates outside the text have the signature of the very first proofs found in the Italian edition. According to Cohen, these proofs may appêr in copies of the French translation: ” One also finds dthe figures marked with the signature indicating the first proofs inserted from the origin in the copies of this edition. ” (col. 161).
“This edition, and especially the French translation, are often accompaniedby a charming free suite of 1 frontispiece and 20 unsigned plates, but by Gravelot, bêring the title “Gallant Engravings of Boccaccio’s Tales. In London.”” (Cohen, col. 159).
Splendid copy enriched with the frontispiece bêring “Gallant Engravings of Boccaccio’s Tales” and a “charming free suite” of 20 figures.
Very precious copy, complete with the free suite, bound in full red morocco of the time.
Provenance: ex-libris Library. D. D. de Fréval on the backplate.
