Edition de Luxe, limited to 1000 copies, The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio. Faithfully translated by J.M.Rigg with an illustrated introduction and 15 photogravures from original drawings by Louis Chalon. In two volumes. circa 1920's, hardcovers, gilt devices to boards, gilt lettering on spines, and pages untrimmed, tissue guards, ribbons, 21.5 cms x 28 cms x 5.8 cms, condition: very good. 

The Decameron, sometimes nicknamed l'Umana commedia ("the Human comedy", is a collection of novella by the14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (13131375). The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men; they shelter in a secluded villa just outside Florence in order to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city. Boccaccio probably conceived of The Decameron after the epidemic of 1348, and completed it by 1353. The various tales of love in The Decameron range from the erotic to the tragic. Tales of wit, practical jokes, and life lessons contribute to the mosaic. In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (for example on Chaucers Canterbury Tales. It provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose.