{"product_id":"the-decameron-of-giovanni-boccaccio-folio-society-limited-edition","title":"The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio (Folio Society Limited Edition)","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBOCCACCIO, Giovanni\u003c\/strong\u003e (trans. Richard Aldington; illus. John Buckland-Wright). \u003cem\u003eThe Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio.\u003c\/em\u003e London: The Folio Society, 2007.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eLarge 8vo. Full red Nigerian \"Wassa\" goatskin, bound by Real Lachenmaier, Germany. Covers and spine blocked in gilt and navy blue with an abstract design by Jeff Clements incorporating motifs of medieval windows and male and female symbols. Green Morocco spine label. Top edge gilt. Satin ribbon marker. 712 pp. 20 aquatints by John Buckland-Wright throughout, including frontispiece. Housed in dark green solander case with gilt-titled spine, together with accompanying booklet \u003cem\u003eThe Happy Art of Narration: Readings of Boccaccio and the Decameron\u003c\/em\u003e by Dryden, Coleridge, Hazlitt, Shelley, and Leigh Hunt. \u003cstrong\u003eDeluxe Limited Edition. Limited to 1,750 numbered copies, this being number 1384.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eGiovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) wrote \u003cem\u003eThe Decameron\u003c\/em\u003e in the years following the Black Death, which devastated Florence in 1348 and killed, by some estimates, more than half the city's population. The plague provides the novel's frame: seven young women and three young men, having survived the initial outbreak, retreat to a secluded villa outside the city and agree to pass the following ten days telling stories, one hundred tales in total, ranging across every register from bawdy comedy to tragic romance to sly social satire, told by narrators whose personalities and preoccupations gradually differentiate themselves across the collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThis translation, by Richard Aldington (1892–1962), renders Boccaccio's fourteenth-century Italian into readable modern English without sacrificing the wit and structural elegance of the original. The twenty aquatints by John Buckland-Wright (1897–1954), the New Zealand-born printmaker celebrated for his technically masterful and sensuous engravings, were produced for the Folio Society's earlier editions of the text and are reproduced here with the fidelity that aquatint reproduction demands.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNear fine. \u003c\/strong\u003eSome extremely faint foxing to fore-edge of main volume, almost imperceptible. Accompanying pamphlet shows some marking to title card. Some rubbing to gilt titling on solander case spine. Internals clean and bright throughout; gilt remains bright and bold to main volume. The set otherwise presents beautifully.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThis book is currently not on display in store.\u003cbr\u003eIf you would like more information or to arrange a viewing, please contact: \u003ca href=\"mailto:rarebooks@harryhartog.com.au\" title=\"Harry Hartog Rare Book Department\"\u003erarebooks@harryhartog.com.au\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCatalogue Number: HH000659\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Giovanni Boccaccio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49332289274099,"sku":"1110003000637","price":500.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/1_62ab644f-b27c-4dbd-995d-11ac1e1ecd9f.png?v=1783385674","url":"https:\/\/www.harryhartog.com.au\/products\/the-decameron-of-giovanni-boccaccio-folio-society-limited-edition","provider":"Harry Hartog Bookseller","version":"1.0","type":"link"}