Le Lettere [...] Sopra le diece giornate del Decamerone. Di M. Giovanni Boccaccio

8vo (153x95 mm). [4], 83, [1] leaves. With errors in foliation. Collation: *⁴ A-X⁴. Leaf X4 is a blank. Printer's device on title page and on l. X3v. Woodcut historiated initials. Contemporary flexible vellum, later inked title on spine, contemporary manuscript title on lower edge (slightly soiled, traces of ties, endpapers renewed). Restoration to the outer margin of the first four leaves and to the bottom margin of leaf *4 not affecting the text, small tear to the blank lower margin of l. T1, some occasional light foxing, a good copy.

Extremely rare first edition of Sansovino's first extensive and original work. The volume is dedicated to the bishop of Saluzzo, Alfonso de' Tornabuoni, and contains 107 letters addressed to 106 different recipients, 14 of which are women. Among them are some outstanding personalities of the time such as Bartolomeo Ammanati, Pietro Aretino, Annibal Caro, Bernardino Daniello, Lodovico Dolce, Donato Giannotti, Benedetto Varchi, Lorenzo Lotto, and Giorgio Vasari (cf. E. Carrara, Francesco Sansovino letterato e intendente d'arte, in: “Arte Veneta”, 59, 2002, pp. 229-238).

The work is extremely original not only for the choice of the epistolary form, but also for its connection to the Decameron, of which it maintains the same division into ten days. Moreover, each letter corresponds to one of Boccaccio's novellas, even though the theme of the letters is not always related to that of the novellas. In this sense, Sansovino's primary goal is not to provide an in-depth literary commentary on the Decameron, but rather to use the novellas as a series of exempla containing useful advices on conduct and behaviour for his correspondents. Of all the themes, love in all its forms is by far Sansovino's favourite. As far as religion is concerned, Sansovino's ideas seem to be close to those of the so-called evangelists, as he advocates a profound reform of the Church and calls for a more personal and intimate form of devotion. In other letters he expresses his opinions on politics, philosophy, education, art, and the question of the Italian language.

Of the few extant copies of this rare work different issues are known. The earliest one is certainly the present dated 1542 and with the printer's device on the title page. Another stage is represented by copies also dated 1542 but without the printer's device on the title page. These are followed by copies dated MDLIII (1543) in which the third “I” in the date is printed over the dot at the end of the pre-existing MDLII. (1542) date. The device V448 depicting St. Georg and the dragon was used by Venturino Ruffinelli until 1542 and then by Baldassarre Costantini starting from 1543 (cf. F. Ascarelli-M. Menato, La tipografia del ‘500 in Italia, Florence, 1989, p. 381). This is why the first issue is usually attributed to Ruffinelli, while the second and third, in which the prelimanry leaves are completely reset and the printer's device is present in some copies only at the end, are assigned to Costantini.

A puzzle are also the last two signatures V and X. In all copies the last leaf in signature T (T4) is foliated 76, whereas the foliation in the first leaf (V1) of the following signature jumps to 81. Originally leaf V4 was probably either a blank or it contained on the verso the printer's mark. At a later moment Sansovino, very unhappy with the many errors in the text, had printed on leaf V4, now foliated 84, some eighteen errata and a short address to the reader on the recto, and the correct readings of several passages on the verso. These are continued on leaf X1 (recto and verso) and on leaf X2 (only recto). There follows another address to the reader on the recto of the same leaf, which continues on the verso and on the recto of leaf X3. The printer's device on leaf X3v is not present in all copies of the second and third issue. Leaf X4 is a blank (cf. C. Roaf, Francesco Sansovino e le sue “Lettere sopra le diece giornate del Decamerone”, in: “Quaderni di retorica e poetica”, 1, 1985, pp. 91-98).

In the first address to the reader, Sansovino states that he leaves it to the discretion of the reader to correct the many orthographical errors in the edition, while in the second address he accuses an unidentified Florentine enemy of his, who was hired by the printer to correct his text while he was away from Venice, of deliberately mauling it to the point of making it unrecognizable. There are also variants in the errors of foliation and various changes or omissions in the text, which are described in detail by C. Roaf (Introduzione, in: F. Sansovino, “Le lettere sopra le dieci giornate del Decamerone di M. Giovanni Boccaccio”, Bologna, 2003, pp. XXIX-XLIII).

The troubled publishing history of the edition(s), as well as the fact that not all days contain exactly ten letters, may suggest that the work was published at different times and only partially corrected by the author.

List of recipients:

Campesano, Alessandro (l. 1r)

Manetti, Antonio (l. 2r)

Thiene, Marco da (l. 3r)

Frate Ottaviano de S. (l. 3v)

Marchesana di Carrara [Pappafava, Lucrezia?] (l. 4r)

Pagnini, Sante (l. 6v)

Dalla Pieve, Goro (l. 7r)

Aretino, Pietro (l. 8r)

Re de Romani [Ferdinand I of Habsburg] (l. 9r)

Tornabuoni, Simon (l. 10r)

Madonna Costanza G. (l. 11v)

Gondi, Girolamo (l. 11v)

Lioni, Lodovico (l. 13r)

Bonfadio, Jacopo (l. 13r)

Botti, Simone (l. 13r)

Di Martino, Piero (l. 14r)

Malipiero, Ottaviano (l. 14v)

Medici, Vieri de' (l. 15r)

Fausto da Longiano, [Sebastiano] (l. 16r)

Cattani, Rocco (l. 17r)

Platone, Francesco (l. 17v)

Lanciarotta, Polisena (l. 18r)

Migli, Gian Francesco. Firenze, August 10, 1541 (l. 18v)

Quirino, Zaccheria. Bologna, March 26, 1541 (l. 19r)

Giustiniano, Francesco (l. 19v)

Priolo, Francesco (l. 21r)

Bardi, Luigi de' (l. 12v)

Dolce, Lodovico (l. 26r)

Rimbotti, Carlo (l. 27v)

Bianco, Jacopo (l. 29r)

Pompei, Giulio (l. 29v)

Franchini, Cesare (l. 31r)

Benivieni, Beatrice (l. 32r)

Rangone Pallavicina, Argentina (l. 32v)

Scapucci, Cosimo (l. 34r)

Rigogli, Antonio (l. 34v)

Solico, Aurelio (l. 35v)

Flischi, Scipion de' (l. 36v)

Allegretti, Antonio (l. 37r)

Daniello, Bernardino (l. 38r)

Alberghetti, Cesare (l. 39r)

Badoaro, Federico (l. 40r)

Segni, Fabio (l. 40v)

Madonna Antonia di M. (l. 41r)

Coccio, Francesco (l. 41v)

[Vasari] Aretino, Giorgio (l. 62v)

Vallubio, Antonio (l. 43r)

Dini, Agostino (l. 43v)

Pasqualigo, Marin (l. 44v)

Martelli, Vincenzo (l. 45v)

Lioni, Francesco (l. 46r)

Lotti, Lorenzo (l. 46v)

Alamanni, Giambattista (l. 47r)

Romano, Porzio Lucilio (l. 48r)

Lucrezia B. (l. 48v)

Manuzi, Manuzio (l. 48r)

Accorambono, Felice (l. 50v)

Genga, Bartolomeo (l. 51r)

Martelli, Sigismondo (l. 52r)

Giallo, Jacopo (l. 52v)

Angeni, Filippo (l. 54r)

Frescobaldi, Paolo (l. 54v)

Baccelli, Girolamo (l. 54v)

Franchini, Lattanzio (l. 55r)

Taddei, Giovanni (l. 55r)

Colomba, Faustina della (l. 55v)

Bartolini, Bartolomeo (l. 56r)

Fabrini, Piero (l. 57r)

Antinori, Amerigo (l. 57v)

Veniero, Domenico (l. 58v)

Botti, Matteo (l. 58v)

Tornabuoni, Alfonso de' (l. 59r)

Martini, Luca (l. 59v)

Dini, Pietro (l. 60r)

Soncini, Domenico (l. 60r)

Ammanati, Bartolomeo (l. 60v)

Madonna Francesca de L.F. (l. 61r)

Da Lucca, Antonio (l. 61r)

Giannotti, Donato (l. 62r)

[Grazzini, Antonfrancesco] called Il Lasca (l. 62v)

Petrarci, [Francesco] (l. 63r)

Belfratelli, Odoardo (l. 64r)

Lomellino, Benedetto (l. 65v)

Alle valorose e piacevoli donne (to the valiant and gracious ladies) (l. 66r)

Montevarchi, [Antonio] Francesco da (l. 67v)

Pitti, Lorenzo (l. 67v)

Cavalcanti, Bernardo (l. 68r)

Madonna Fiammetta de F. (l. 68v)

Grimaldi, Emanuel (l. 69r)

Da Lucca, Lorenzo (l. 69v)

Lottieri, Tommaso (l. 70v)

Torello, Francesco (l. 71r)

Pitti, Jacopo (l. 71v)

Lottini, Apardo (l. 72r)

Armano, Luigi d' (l. 72r)

Agrippa, Pietro (l. 72v)

Broccardo, Fausto (l. 72v)

Alle vedove (to the windows) (l. 73r)

Madonna Costanza S. (l. 73r)

Varchi, Benedetto (l. 73v)

Piccolomini, Alessandro (l. 74v)

Spira, Fortunio (l. 75v)

Caro, Annibal (l. 76r)

Barbaro, Daniello (l. 76v)

Gabrielli, Trifone (l. 81r)

Cornelia degl'Ad. (l. 81v)

Martelli, Sigismondo (l. 82r)

Francesco Sansovino was born at Rome to the sculptor Jacopo Tatti (Sansovino). In the aftermath of the Sack of Rome, father and son left Rome for Venice. After a youthful study of letters including Greek, Francesco obeyed his father and studied law in Padua, Florence, and Bologna. Unhappy with law he quarrelled with his father and began to write poetry and imaginative vernacular literature in the 1540's. In 1550 Jacopo, still desirous that his son should travel the road to wealth and position, arranged for an appointment at the papal court. But Francesco disliked courtly intrigue and after a brief period returned to Venice. In 1553 he married a Venetian girl of good but non-noble family and settled down to a tranquil life of study and writing.

Francesco Sansovino typifies the figures who moved in the editorial circles of the period. A polygraph author of poetry, prose writings on literature, history and rhetoric, as well as a translator and editor, Sansovino not only compiled, translated, and annotated text for Venetian printers, he even opened his own printing house, publishing around thirty editions, many of good quality, between 1560-62 and in 1568. Especially his historical works were widely read by his contemporaries. His encyclopaedic description of his adopted city, Venetia, città nobilisima et singolare, descritta in XIIII libri (1581), is a useful source for descriptions of churches, works of art, personalities, famous events, and customs of the time. He also wrote a history of the Turks in Europe, Annali Turcheschi (1568), a history of illustrious Italian families Origini e fatti delle famiglie illustri d'Italia (1582), a treatise in seven books on the art of writing letters Il Secretario (1564, see item no. XXX), as well as a book on the government of kingdoms and republics Del governo dei regni e delle republiche (1561). Sansovino also found time for writing literary criticism, including studies of Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, Bembo, and Sannazaro (cf. E. Bonora, Ricerche su Francesco Sansovino imprenditore librario e letterato, Venice, 1994, passim).

J. Basso, Le genre épistolaire en langue italienne (1538-1662), Rome, 1999, p. 66; Edit 16, CNCE47729; A. Quondam, Le carte messagiere. Retorica e modelli di cominicazione epistolare. Per un indice dei libri di lettere del Cinquecento, Rome, 1981, pp. 311-312.

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