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Giovanni Boccaccio
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On Famous Women Paperback – Illustrated, August 18, 2011

by Giovanni Boccaccio (Author), Guido A. Guarino (Editor, Translator)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 31 ratings
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Boccaccio's "On Famous Women" ("De claris mulieribus") is a remarkable work that contains the lives of one hundred and six women in myth and history, ranging from Eve to Boccaccio's contemporary, Queen Giovanna I of Naples. It is the first collection of women's biographies ever written. Boccaccio composed it at Certaldo in 1361/62 and revised it in various stages to the end of his life in 1375. He dedicated it to Andrea Acciaiuoli, countess of Altavilla in the kingdom of Naples and sister of Niccolò Acciaiuoli, the grand seneschal of Queen Giovanna I. In his preface the author states that the biographies of illustrious men had been written often by a number of excellent writers, and he cited his hero Petrarch's "Lives of Famous Men" ("De viris illustribus") as an example. No one, however, had ever done the same for women. Boccaccio therefore presents a wide variety of women from antiquity to his own time, offering their lives as both moral "exempla" and entertaining reading. Boccaccio is best known as the author of the "Decameron" in which he portrayed women among the "lieta brigata" of pleasure-seeking young aristocrats and among the various characters of their tales. But in these biographies we find more serious themes that became standards of the Renaissance: secular and religious life; politics and private life; fame, fortune and earthly power; advantage and adversity; women's character, virtues and vices; their social roles, individual talents and achievements. "On Famous Women" is the earliest source of women's biography in the West and has had a long and distinguished publication career and literary influence. Its impact can be seen in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," in Christine de Pizan's Livre de la cité des dames," and in the work of Spencer, Alonso de Cartagena and Thomas Elyot, among many others. Guido A. Guarino's translation is based on the edition of Mathias Apiarius, printed in Bern in 1539. This new edition includes the original woodcut illustrations of the 1539 Apiarius edition, a new bibliography and bibliographical essay. First English translation. 2nd revised edition.
Introduction, new bibliography. 
310 pages, 14 illustrations.
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  1. Part of series
    Medieval & Renaissance Texts
  2. Print length
    310 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    August 18, 2011
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.78 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1599102668
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1599102665
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Italica Press, Inc.; 2nd Revised ed. edition (August 18, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 310 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1599102668
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1599102665
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.1 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.78 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 31 ratings

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Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
31 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Eve Howard
5.0 out of 5 stars The writer doth protest too much!
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2019
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I was surprised recently when a member of my fine literature group said Boccaccio hates women, but I think I understand the comment now, though I disagree with it. I am simultaneously listening to a grand reading of the unabridged Decameron, published in 1351, (two years into the plague that wiped out half of Europe), and have just finished reading Boccaccio's On Famous Women, published ten years later. The Decameron may be the most pro-adultery book I've ever written, and its female characters are brilliant, witty, daring, ingenious and admirable in every way, surviving fantastical adventures, including taking over whole kingdoms; and seem to thrive on satisfying their natural desires. The clergy comes in for a roasting for the moral hypocrites they are and a sophisticated practicality regarding sex prevails throughout the stories. Venus is in the ascendant.
But the book on Famous Women is so much the reverse, so piously and virulently pro-chastity, that one cannot but suspect that it was written either as a tongue in cheek reaction to the censure the Decameron surely must have received from the church, or an earnest apology for celebrating female sexual liberation so lavishly in the previous work. The plague was over. But the Inquisition was going strong. I got the feeling that clauses were deliberately inserted after every other sentence, to stress women's inferiority, except in the capacity to sin. The insults are so virulently excessive! But extract every third sentence and the text reads like the old Bococaccio. Apparently, On Famous Women underwent 11 revisions until reaching the version we now have. Bet you a Milanese pizza that the first version contained almost no anti-female content. Perhaps a more scholarly reader than I can fill in the blanks on this fascinating literary puzzle.
9 people found this helpful
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purchaseer
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2014
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Since I had never read Boccaccio, I was very pleased to discover his expert description of women included in this collection, i.e., Julius Caesar's daughter and her bizarre death. This tome is filled with explicit descriptions of many unique women which Boccaccio reveals to us with detailed information. The book is one you can read straight through or read one or two profiles as you desire. The introduction is filled with interesting information which will whet your appetite to read every profile.
I'm very happy to own this book.
5 people found this helpful
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Lilith Roswyn
3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, not educational
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2017
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Not useful for information, many of his facts are wrong, but it's an interesting book. If you can ignore Boccaccio's misogyny, the book is entertaining.
3 people found this helpful
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obalena
5.0 out of 5 stars Where is Professor Guarino?
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2016
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I had the honor of being a graduate student of Professor Guido Guarino.
Reading the pages of his introduction was like listening to him in person, like the good old days of school.
The translation is simply outstanding.

The only problem: I have not seen Professor Guarino in more than 10 years; and I miss him very much.

Ottavio Balena, Ph.D.
3 people found this helpful
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Elizabeth Shepherd
3.0 out of 5 stars Of academic interest
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2013
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Judging by his other writings, I thought this book would be more entertaining. But it is a wide anthology of classical women's lives.
2 people found this helpful
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BillT
1.0 out of 5 stars Sample does not provide a samole of On Famous Women
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2020
The sample ends before before the first story, EVE, OUR FIRST MOTHER, starts. Since I did not get a sample of this book, I decided to not get it.
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Top reviews from other countries

J
5.0 out of 5 stars Plutarch's lives but female version
Reviewed in Canada on December 25, 2020
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Great book. It's the female version of Plutarch's lives, basically. The chapters are short and sweet, at just a couple pages per woman. There are good examples and bad examples of womanly traits here. Good reading
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shery
5.0 out of 5 stars Easy and quick to read, more biographical than descriptive.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 9, 2013
Verified Purchase
Easy and quick to read, yet it is more biographical than descriptive. It combines an interesting selection of varied women throughout history.
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