BO CC A C C I O A N D H I S I M I T A T O RS N I H H I N GE RMA N , E GL S , FRE N C , I H N TA LI A N SPA N S , A D I LI T E RA T U RE TH E DEC A M ERO N FLOREN CE NIGHTINGALE JONES I nst r uctor i n Romance Languages Univ ersi ty qf Illi nois C HI C A GO THE UNI V ERSI TY OF C HI C A GO PRESS 1 9 1 0 C OPYRI GHT 1 9 1 0 BY Tm: U NI V E RSI TY OF C HI C A GO o Published Jannary I 9 I C omposed and Printed By The U niversit y of C hicagoPress o lin is U . S . A . C hicago, I l o , PREFAC E The following list of the imitations of the tales found in the Decomeron is designed to give to the student of comparative literature some idea of the extent to which the novels of Boccaccio were used by later writers as d m d Th imi m l worke ver in o ems dra as an o eras . ese a ateria tobe o t po , , p t o an tions are arranged chronologically and are gr uped by countries. Germ y is placed first as leading all the other countries of Europe in its adapta ’ n En nd come next and hen he h f Boc s es. la s t t ree tio s o caccios tori g , t Latin countries I n thi s list are included all the rose or oetical narratives . p p m mm nl call d imitati n f Boccaccio N or dra as which are co o y e o s o . o attem t i made odiscuss the sources ofthese stories nor tosettle dis uted p s t , p ue tions uch a whether an author imitated Boccaccio himsel or some q s , s s f imi B ci I i enou h that the lot in all its main eatu tator of occac o. t s g p f res D a r which wa di l or indirec it agrees with the ec meron stoy s rect y tly s source . Several a em t f his kind have been made be ore : Du Méril in tt p s o t f , “ his H i stoire de la Poési e S candino've has a chapter entitled Des ” é a m i n unl in hi H is S u ce d D c méron t de i itat o s. o s tor o o r s u e ses D p , y f ’ Prose Fiction brings together a number of imitations ; Zambrini s Biblio ra a Boccaccesca 1 8 is a i subtitle indicates a list of he g fi ( 75) , s ts , t “ Edizi ni d ll di i vanni Boc acci latine vol ari tradott o e e opere G o c , g , e et ” orm v l di u n arat stories of th Deca trasf ate . Se era stu es po sep e e meron have been ubli hed such as that of Auschtitz N ovelte vom Fatken und p s , , i hre Verbreihm in der Li teratur and that of Schofield on the S eventh N eve! g , he S ev l has studied the influence of the talian of t enth Day . Koeppe I novel on the English literature of the sixt eenth century and Bourland the Dec on in aluable he e con ribu ion h v history of the amer in Spa . V as t s t t s a e ’ been for the fuller understanding of the extent of Boccaccios influence u n Eur ean literature it is ho ed that the results arrived at b those who po op , p y have thus studied the sub ect in certain as ects ma be of increased value j p , y , by being brought into comparison with those reached by other students fi ld in the same e . If the list of Boccaccio imitations which is here presented is a longer l t than that iven b unlo Du Méril and Zambrini it is because is g y D p , , , within the last twenty-fi ve or thirty years a number of studies on Boccaccio v ared imila tothose mentioned above the results of which have ha e appe s r , l Nei he unl n r Zambrini hav been utilized in the following tab es. t r D op o e given a chronologically arranged list sumciently complete to furnish the student of comparative literature with the data which are necessary in iii iv BOCCACCIO AND HI S IMI TATORS order to arrive at an adequate idea of the extent towhich Boccaccio was imi at d in in cent in a cert n countr r h t e a certa ur ai o b a certain aut or . y, y, y A general view of the subject is often necessary to decide whether an author drew his ins iration rom Boccacc m m th p f io or fro so e o er source . The fact that six stories in the Canterbury Tales resemble those of the Decameron would certainly indicate that Chaucer had some acquaintance i h h b k w t t e oo . Over ei ht hundred imitations are here brou ht to ether but the list g g g , does not include those ound in Scandinavian literature which would brin f , g num r h nd I t o d th t t w l the be up to at least a t ousa . is h pe a the lis il be ound reasonabl accurate but in all robabilit errors will be ound since f y , p y f , many of the works referred to could not be consulted and the so-called imitations had tobe accepted upon the authority of those who have con h m A ar lac d be h dat indicates h h imi a i n sulted t e . st p e fore t e e t at t e t t o ’ ha n v ifi d n f a w k I n n c nl d s s bee er ed by rea i g o the uthor s or . o e ase o y oe the star indicate second - t knowledge of the story and that is in the case of several Spanish authors where the outli ne of the story is given so fully by Miss Bourland as toleave nodoubt as toits similarity with the D to t i I n ecameron stor . As he dates it s ho ed that he are co t . y , p t y rrec eneral the date iven is the one which i believed tobe that of the first g , g s lic a nce of the work n m nu n I n h c of pub appe ra i a script or i print . t e ase ’ ’ some collections like Von der Hagen s Gesammtabentener or Lami s N ovelle letter ri e this rule ha not en llowed Wh er he ori in a s be o . eth t s es hese , f t t collections antedated Boccaccioor not their ublication in the nineteenth , p century may fairly entitle them tobe imitations of Boccaccio in the sense that they are thus brought before the modern reading public for a second I t has seemed best not to incumber the following list with detailed nc w k w ic imi n cur Th ti l far as re ere es tothe or in h h the tatio oc s. e t e so f , it indicates the character of the stor has been iven whenever ossible y, g p , but re erences toeditions volumes a es would de eat the ob ect aimed at f , , p g , f j , which is tobrin to ether in the smallest com ass ossible the imitations g g , p p , f h Decam on in Eur n li e A fo cknowled men ofindebt o t e er opea t rature . s r a g t edness toothers the Biblio ra h ives the inci al source rom which this , g p y g pr p s f li h en made A a n h h ex d ha h li t n st as be up . g i t e ope is presse t t t e s is reaso w i w l . a n f h ic ab accurate i e . ccurate e ou h or t e ur ose for h h t as y , , g p p ’ intended tobrin to ether in a or ofbird -e e-view all fthe reworkin s , g g s t s y o g of the stories of the Decameron in rose or verse which number nearl , p , y a thousand and which form noinconsiderable part of the literature of the n w i six ce turies which ill soon have elapsed since the birth of Boccacc o. B D H M A O THE D C AM ON OC C AC C IO AN I S I IT T RS . E ER If a twentieth-century playwright were to sit down with the Bible and the Decameron before him from which toselect plots towork over for the entertainment of the ublic the ver roximit of the twobooks would be p , y p y c id red c I n he ix n h c n r h w v n i ons e sa rile ious.