THIRD EDITION OF THE MEDIEVAL NOVEL «URBANO»

[Boccaccio, Giovanni]. Vrbano di m. Gioan Boccaccio, Opera bellitissima [sic], con somma diligentia reuista, & nuouamente emendata, e ristampata. Venice: Bartolomeo Imperatore & Francesco Torresani, 1543. [at colophon:] In Vinegia: per Bartolomio da Lodrone detto l'Imperadore, e Francesco Venetiano, 1543.

8vo (154x104 mm), later stiff vellum, flyleaves from a medieval manuscript, ff. [28].
Title within ornamental border.

Very rare third edition of the novel «Urbano» (first published in 1526), wrongly attributed to Boccace and sometimes ascribed to Giovanni Bonsignori.

The hero, Urbano, is the son of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and a peasant girl whom he raped. Urbano bears a strong resemblance to the emperor's legitimate heir, Speculo, and is tricked by unscrupulous Florentine merchants into marrying the daughter of a sultan who believes him to be the emperor's heir. After numerous dramatic twists that include the death of Speculo, the plot is resolved when Frederick acknowledges Urbano as his heir.

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) was an Italian author, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and important Renaissance humanist. Boccaccio wrote a number of notable works, including the Decameron and «On Famous Women». As a poet who wrote in the Italian vernacular, Boccaccio is particularly noted for his realistic dialogue, which differed from that of his contemporaries, medieval writers who usually followed formulaic models for character and plot.

References: CNCE, 37844 (only 4 copies). OCLC, 16103437. Sander, I, 1098. Not in Adams, not in Gamba, who quote other editions. Not in Brunet, I, 1011 quoting other editions of this: «petit roman qui, selon l'Academie de la Crusca, est mal a propos attribue a Boccace». Bacchi della Lega, Opere di Boccaccio, pp. 135-136: «L'Urbano, anzichè del Boccaccio, si vuole (tra gli altri dal Poggiali) sia lavoro di Giovanni de' Bonsignori da Città di Castello, volgarizzatore delle "Metamorfosi d'Ovidio", che ne avrebbe preso l'argomento dal "Libro Imperiale" di un Cambio di Stefano, suo compatriotta, non altro scambiando che i nomi di diversi personaggi introdotti». Also according to Zambrini, Bibliografia Boccaccesca, Cambio di Stefano is the true author of Urbano.

Very fine.