PREFACE vii✦

INTRODUCTION xi✦

CHAPTER✦

I. BOCCACCIO'S PARENTAGE, BIRTH, AND CHILDHOOD 3

II. HIS ARRIVAL IN NAPLES--HIS YEARS WITH THE MERCHANT--HIS ABANDONMENT OF TRADE AND ENTRY ON THE STUDY OF CANON LAW 15

III. HIS MEETING WITH FIAMMETTA AND THE PERIODS OF THEIR LOVE STORY 27

IV. THE YEARS OF COURTSHIP--THE REWARD--THE BETRAYAL--THE RETURN TO FLORENCE 41

V. BOCCACCIO'S EARLY WORKS--THE FILOCOLO--THE FILOSTRATO--THE TESEIDE--THE AMETO--THE FIAMMETTA--THE NINFALE FIESOLANO 61

VI. IN FLORENCE--HIS FATHER'S SECOND MARRIAGE--THE DUKE OF ATHENS 96

VII. IN NAPLES--THE ACCESSION OF GIOVANNA--THE MURDER OF ANDREW OF HUNGARY--THE VENGEANCE 108

VIII. IN ROMAGNA--THE PLAGUE--THE DEATH OF FIAMMETTA 119

IX. THE RIME--THE SONNETS TO FIAMMETTA 130

X. BOCCACCIO AS AMBASSADOR--THE MEETING WITH PETRARCH 145

XI. TWO EMBASSIES 162

XII. BOCCACCIO'S ATTITUDE TO WOMAN--THE CORBACCIO 170

XIII. LEON PILATUS AND THE TRANSLATION OF HOMER--THE CONVERSION OF BOCCACCIO 189

XIV. THE EMBASSIES TO THE POPE--VISITS TO VENICE AND NAPLES--BOCCACCIO'S LOVE OF CHILDREN 207

XV. PETRARCH AND BOCCACCIO--THE LATIN WORKS 223

XVI. DANTE AND BOCCACCIO--THE VITA--AND THE COMENTO 249

XVII. ILLNESS AND DEATH 279

XVIII. THE DECAMERON 291

APPENDICES

I. THE DATES OF BOCCACCIO'S ARRIVAL IN NAPLES AND OF HIS MEETING WITH FIAMMETTA 319

II. DOCUMENT OF THE SALE OF "CORBIGNANO" (CALLED NOW "CASA DI BOCCACCIO") BY BOCCACCIO IN 1336 325

III. FROM "LA VILLEGGIATURA DI MAIANO," A MS. BY RUBERTO GHERARDI; A COPY OF WHICH IS IN POSSESSION OF MRS. ROSS, OF POGGIO GHERARDO, NEAR SETTIGNANO, FLORENCE 335

IV. THE ACROSTIC OF THE AMOROSA VISIONE DEDICATING THE POEM TO FIAMMETTA 348

V. THE WILL OF GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO 350

VI. ENGLISH WORKS ON BOCCACCIO 355

VII. BOCCACCIO AND CHAUCER AND SHAKESPEARE 360

VIII. SYNOPSIS OF THE DECAMERON, TOGETHER WITH SOME WORKS TO BE CONSULTED 367

IX. AN INDEX TO THE DECAMERON 394

INDEX 409

ILLUSTRATIONS

TRADITIONAL PORTRAITS OF BOCCACCIO AND FIAMMETTA (MARIA D'AQUINO) Frontispiece

From the frescoes in the Spanish Chapel at S. Maria Novella, Florence. Photogravure.

To face page

THE BURNING OF THE MASTER OF THE TEMPLE 6 From a miniature in the French version of the De Casibus Virorum, made in 1409 by Laurent le Premierfait. MS. late XV century. (Brit. Mus. Showcase V, MS. 126.)

CASA DI BOCCACCIO, CORBIGNANO, NEAR FLORENCE 12

KING ROBERT OF NAPLES CROWNED BY S. LOUIS OF TOULOUSE 18 From the fresco by Simone Martini in S. Lorenzo, Naples.

POPE JOAN 24 A woodcut from the De Claris Mulieribus. (Berne, 1539.) (By the courtesy of Messrs. J. and J. Leighton.)

LUCRECE 30 A woodcut from De Claris Mulieribus. (Berne, 1539.) (By the courtesy of Messrs. J. and J. Leighton.)

BOCCACCIO AND MAINARDI CAVALCANTI 36 By the Dutch engraver called "The Master of the Subjects in the Boccaccio." De Casibus Virorum. (Strasburg, 1476.)

SAPOR MOUNTING OVER THE PROSTRATE VALERIAN 42 By the Dutch engraver called "The Master of the Subjects in the Boccaccio." De Casibus Virorum. (Strasburg, 1476.)

MANLIUS THROWN INTO THE TIBER 48 By the Dutch engraver called "The Master of the Subjects in the Boccaccio." De Casibus Virorum. (Strasburg, 1476.)

ALLEGORY OF WEALTH AND POVERTY 54 From a miniature in the French version of the De Casibus Virorum, made in 1409 by Laurent le Premierfait. MS. late XV century. (Brit. Mus. Rothschild Bequest. MS. XII.)

THE MURDER OF THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS 62 From a miniature in the French version of the De Casibus Virorum, made in 1409 by Laurent le Premierfait. MS. late XV century. (Brit. Mus. Showcase V, MS. 126.)

A WOODCUT FROM DES NOBLES MALHEUREUX (DE CASIBUS VIRORUM). PARIS, 1515 68 This cut originally appears in the Troy Book. (T. Bonhomme, Paris, 1484.) Unique copy at Dresden. (By the courtesy of Messrs. J. and J. Leighton.)

MARCUS MANLIUS HURLED FROM THE TARPEIAN ROCK 74 An English woodcut from Lydgate's Falles of Princes. (Pynson, London, 1527.) It is a copy in reverse from the French translation of the De Casibus. (Du Pré, Paris, 1483.) (By the courtesy of Messrs. J. and J. Leighton.)

THE TITLE OF THE NOBLES MALHEUREUX (DE CASIBUS). PARIS, 1538 80 (By the Courtesy of Messrs. J. and J. Leighton.)

FRONTISPIECE OF THE DECAMERON. VENICE, 1492 86