A rollicking, bawdy collection of 50 fairy tales told by 10 storytellers over five days follows the compilation efforts of 17th-century Italian poet Giambattista Basile and traces the experiences of a cursed princess who would win back her betrothed.
About the Author
Born to a Neapolitan middle-class family, Basile was, during his career, a courtier and soldier to various Italian princes, including the doge of Venice. According to Benedetto Croce he was born in 1575, while other sources have February 1566. In Venice he began to write poetry. Later he returned to Naples to serve as a courtier under the patronage of Don Marino II Caracciolo, prince of Avellino, to whom he dedicated his idyllL’Aretusa(1618). By the time of his death he had reached the rank of "count" Conte di Torrone.Basile's earliest known literary production is from 1604 in the form of a preface to the Vaiasseide of his friend the Neapolitan writer Giulio Cesare Cortese. The following year hisvillanella Smorza crudel amorewas set to music and in 1608 he publish his poemIl Pianto della Vergine.He is chiefly remembered for writing the collection of Neapolitan fairy tales titledLo cunto de li cunti overo lo trattenemiento de peccerille(Neapolitan forThe Tale of Tales, or Entertainment for Little Ones), also known asIl Pentameronepublished posthumously in two volumes by his sister Adriana in Naples, Italy in 1634 and 1636 under the pseudonym Gian Alesio Abbatutis. It later became known as thePentamerone. Although neglected for some time, the work received a great deal of attention after the Brothers Grimm praised it highly as the first national collection of fairy tales. Many of these fairy tales are the oldest known variants in existence. They include the earliest known versions of "Rapunzel" and "Cinderella".
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