Author(s): Giovanni Boccaccio

Classics/Literature

"The Decameron" is a collection of novellas by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio. 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. Beyond its entertainment and literary popularity, it remains an important historical document of life in the fourteenth century. Boccaccio begins with a description of the Black Death and leads into an introduction of a group of seven young women and three young men who flee from plague-ridden Florence to a villa in the (then) countryside of Fiesole. To pass the time, each member of the party tells one story for each one of the nights spent at the villa. Teeming with colourful characters and rich in worldly wisdom, Dover's careful selection of 25 stories from the original 100 encompasses a tremendous variety of tales from this landmark of medieval literature. It is a J.M. Rigg translation. The stories have been selected and edited by Bob Blaisdell.