C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375)
Boccaccio, Giovanni (bok-kä’chō). A celebrated Italian novelist, poet, and humanist; born at Paris, 1313; died on Dec. 21, 1375. His first romance was ‘Filocopo,’ dedicated to his mistress Fiammetta. The romantic epic, the ‘Theseid,’ followed; it is the first Italian work of the kind. Both for itself and for its associations, the ‘Theseid’ is of interest to students of English literature, having been a source of inspiration to Chaucer in his ‘Knightes Tale.’ ‘Fiammetta in Love’ is a work of the finest psychological analysis, clothed in every grace of poesy. ‘Love’s Labyrinth’ is a vigorous satire on woman. But Boccaccio’s enduring fame rests on the ‘Decameron’; a collection of stories original and borrowed, set in a narrative framework, all of the highest charm. (See Critical and Biographical Introduction).