Boccaccio - Decamerone - 1557

FIRST EDITION, BEFORE THE BURNING: THE LAST INTEGRAL DECAMERON BEFORE CENSORSHIP
This important Venetian edition of 1557 of Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron belongs to a bibliographic category particularly coveted by collectors: editions printed before the Index of Prohibited Books promulgated by Paul IV in 1559. Printed only two years before ecclesiastical condemnation of the work, it preserves the text in its Renaissance tradition not yet subjected to the revisions and censorial interventions that would characterize later editions. The volume thus represents not only one of the most celebrated works of Italian literature, but also a tangible testimony of the intellectual and narrative freedom of the Renaissance before the restrictions of the Counter-Reformation. The presence on the title page of the famous woodcut with the portrait of Francesco Alunno also connects this print to a consolidated Venetian editorial tradition of the sixteenth century.
REASONS FOR COLLECTING
• Last integral Decameron before the 1559 Index.
• Direct testimony of the unedited textual tradition.
• Absolute masterpiece of Italian literature and foundation of European modern storytelling.

MARKET VALUE
Sixteenth-century editions of the Decameron consistently figure among the great Italian classics sought after on the international market for rare books. Copies of the latest printings prior to the 1559 Index benefit from particular interest because they document the text before the changes imposed by ecclesiastical censorship. Complete and well-preserved specimens generally fetch between 3,000 and 5,000 euros, with higher results for copies bound in antique leather, prestigious provenance, or exceptional state of preservation.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Collation: [6], 264 leaves.
Large woodcut on the title page including the oval portrait of Francesco Alunno. Some leaves slightly browned. Minor marginal losses on the first and last leaves. The text of the Decameron is complete. The Alunno addition is missing, a deficiency commonly found in copies today preserved. 19th-century full plain parchment binding, smooth spine with a brown label and gold title. Overall a good, well-preserved copy.
In old books, with a multi-century history, there may be some imperfections, not always noted in the description.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
The Decameron.
In Vinegia, per Paulo Gherardo, 1557.
Giovanni Boccaccio.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Few books can boast an influence comparable to that of the Decameron. Composed in the years following the plague of 1348, Boccaccio’s masterpiece defined new narrative models destined to influence the entire European literature. The hundred novellas told by the ten young people sheltering outside Florence offer an extraordinarily modern portrayal of society, human relationships, individual intelligence, fortune, and desire.

The specific importance of the 1557 edition lies in its chronological position. In 1559 Paul IV published the first Index of Prohibited Books, including the Decameron among works to be censored. Subsequent editions were subjected to revisions, expurgations, and modifications aimed at softening or removing passages deemed offensive to the clergy and Catholic morality. This Venetian print therefore belongs to the final editorial phase in which the text could still circulate in its substantially integral Renaissance form.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) was one of the founders of Italian literature, alongside Dante Alighieri and Francesco Petrarca. A storyteller, poet, humanist, and student of the classics, he decisively contributed to the formation of the literary vernacular. The Decameron exerted a profound influence on European narrative, leaving evident traces in the works of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Molière, and Voltaire.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
From the earliest printed editions of the Quattrocento, the Decameron was one of the most widespread and read Italian books in Europe. Venice played a central role in its diffusion during the sixteenth century, producing numerous editions for both the Italian market and the international market. The 1557 edition constitutes one of the last stages of the pre-censorship editorial tradition of 1559 and thus represents a bibliographically significant testimony of the Renaissance reception of the work. Even in the nineteenth century, Gamba noted the relative rarity of complete copies of this impression.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Gamba, Serie dei Testi di Lingua, no. 179.
EDIT16, CNCE 6999.
ICCU / OPAC SBN, census of preserved copies.
USTC, Venetian edition of 1557.
Brunet, Manuel du Libraire et de l’Amateur de Livres, I, col. 1098–1104.
Graesse, Trésor de Livres Rares et Précieux, I, p. 496.
Mortimer, Harvard College Library, Italian 16th Century Books.
Mazzoni, Storia della critica del Decameron.
Quondam, Boccaccio e la tradizione del testo.
Salviati, Degli Avvertimenti della lingua sopra il Decamerone.
Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, catalogo delle edizioni del Decamerone.
British Library Catalogue.
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Catalogue Général.
WorldCat, censimento internazionale delle copie conservate.
Accademia della Crusca, studi sulla tradizione linguistica e testuale del Decamerone.