The Decameron.

2 volumes, 8vo., [xx, 332pp.] + [xiv, 404pp.], with an illustrated Introduction and 16 hand-coloured illustrations from original drawings by Louis Chalon, previous owner's small neat signature to blank endpapers, some very light occasional spots mainly to extreme fore-edges, original cloth gilt. A practically fine clean set in unusually fine bright dustwrappers of Rigg's faithful and complete translation with the original 16 plates by Louis Chalon now reproduced and generally regarded as the best illustrated edition of this famous work. Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) can be ranked alongside Dante and Petrarch as one of the three great Italian literary figures of the 14th century who were also prominent on the European Scene. He can be distinguished from them, however by his greater concentration on earthly themes and subjects and his relative disinterest in moral, religious, theological and political issues. The Decameron, also called Prince Galehaut (Italian: Il Decameron, cognominato Prencipe Galeotto) is a 14th-century medieval allegory by Giovanni Boccaccio, told as a frame story encompassing 100 tales by ten young people. Boccaccio probably began composing the work in 1350, and finished it in 1351 or 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 import, it documents life in 14th-century Italy.…