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Famous Women
Series: The I Tatti Renaissance Library
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Format: Hardback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This volume is ideal for readers interested in Renaissance literature, women's history, classical scholarship, and biography enthusiasts keen on exploring the lives of influential women from history and myth.
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See moreGiovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) devoted his last decades to compiling encyclopedic works in Latin. Among them is Famous Women, the first collection of biographies in Western literature devoted to women. This edition presents the first English translation based on the autograph manuscript of the Latin.
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Description
After the composition of the Decameron, and under the influence of Petrarch's humanism, Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) devoted the last decades of his life to compiling encyclopaedic works in Latin. Among them is Famous Women, the first collection of biographies in Western literature devoted exclusively to women.
The 106 women whose life stories make up this volume range from the exemplary to the notorious, from historical and mythological figures to Renaissance contemporaries. In the hands of a master storyteller, these brief biographies afford a fascinating glimpse of a moment in history when medieval attitudes toward women were beginning to give way to more modern views of their potential.
Famous Women, which Boccaccio continued to revise and expand until the end of his life, became one of the most popular works in the last age of the manuscript book, and had a signal influence on many literary works, including Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Castiglione's Courtier. This edition presents the first English translation based on the autograph manuscript of the Latin.
Series: The I Tatti Renaissance Library
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Praised by the New York Times Book Review as a "beautiful little book," this translation by Virginia Brown brings Boccaccio's vibrant biographies vividly to life. The book is celebrated for its scholarly significance and engaging storytelling, highlighting women known for bravery, intellectual achievements, and quintessential virtues. Readers are encouraged to appreciate the work's historical context and Boccaccio's narrative skill with both tolerance for its period limitations and enjoyment of its tales.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780674003477
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 26 April 2001
Country: United States
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Contributors:
- Edited and translated by Virginia Brown
- Edited and translated by Virginia Brown
Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 33.0mm
Width: 133.0mm
Height: 203.0mm
Weight: 680g
Pages: 560
About the Author
Virginia Brown is Senior Fellow, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto.
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