Giovanni Boccaccio: On Famous Women

Inspired by Petrarch's “De viris illustribus,” Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) completed the original Latin version, “De Mulieribus Claris,” in 1362
After its widespread distribution, the celebrated but also controversial work was translated into many languages
The German adaptation by Heinrich Steinhöwel (1410/1411–1479) was first published in 1473 by Johann Zainer (d. c. 1523) in Ulm

Giovanni Boccaccio: On Famous Women

Description

Giovanni Boccaccio: On Famous Women

Between 1361 and 1362, Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) wrote one of his most popular but also most controversial works: De Mulieribus Claris – On Famous Women. It went down in literary history as the first European book to deal exclusively with female biographies. The moralizing text contrasts the deeds of “wicked” women with those of “virtuous” women and concludes that there are different types of women. In manuscripts and prints, the Latin original spread rapidly throughout Europe and was soon translated into various languages. The first German translation was provided by Heinrich Steinhöwel (1410/1411–1479). He translated 97 of Boccaccio's short biographies into German, omitting some of the material that he considered too offensive or misogynistic, and supplemented his adaptation with the vita of the Roman woman Tullia. Steinhöwel's work was first printed in Ulm in 1473 by Johann Zainer (d. c. 1523) and provided with 79 expressive woodcuts by the so-called Boccaccio Master, which had previously been used to illustrate Zainer's Latin print edition of Boccaccio's bestseller.

Codicology

Alternative Titles: Giovanni Boccaccio: Von den berühmten Frauen
Buch von den hochgeruemten Frowen
Des Giovanni Boccaccio Buch: von den berühmten Frawen. Verteütscht von Hainrich Steinhöwel.
De mulieribus claris
Type: Printed book on paper
Origin: Germany
Date: 1473
Epochs: Late Middle Ages Onwards
Style: Renaissance
Genre: Chronicles / History / Law
Language: German
Illustrations: 79 colored woodcuts
Content: German, colored edition of Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris
Artist / School: Giovanni Boccaccio (author)
Heinrich Steinhöwel (translator)
Johann Zainer (printer)
Boccaccio-Meister (illustrator)

Available facsimile editions:

Facsimile Editions

#1 Giovanni Boccaccio: Buch von den hochgeruemten Frowen

Holbein-Verlag – Munich, 1924

Publisher: Holbein-Verlag – Munich, 1924

Limited Edition: 1200 copies

Binding: Cardboard binding with a coloured woodcut from the incunabulum on the front cover

1 volume: Exact reproduction of the original document (extent, color and size) Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding.

Order / Ask a Question

You might also be interested in:

Boccaccio's Decameron - Codex Paris

Gramont (France) and Ghent (Belgium) – 1445–1450

Giovanni Boccaccio's 100 famous short stories with 100 perfectly matching miniatures: a French translation of the literary classic in a large-format masterpiece for the Burgundian Duke Philip the Good

Experience More

Roman de la Rose of Berthaud d'Achy

Paris (France) – Ca. 1280

The tender rose as a symbol for the woman: perhaps the most famous and controversial allegorical romance novel of the Middle Ages illuminated with 93 gold-decorated miniatures by Berthaud d'Achy

Experience More

On Famous Women by Boccaccio – Vicent Garcia Editores – I-1921 (ff. I-CII and ff. CIV-CV) e I-2444 (ff. CIII and CVI-CIX) – Biblioteca Nacional de España (Madrid, Spain)

On Famous Women by Giovanni Boccaccio

Zaragoza (Spain) – October 24, 1494

The first book in Western literature dedicated exclusively to biographies of women: Giovanni Boccaccio's moralizing and much-received work on the virtues and vices of 106 famous women

Experience More

Decameron Vaticano. Boccaccio

Paris (France) – 1414

Made for the Dukes of Burgundy and stored in the Vatican today: a masterfully illuminated manuscript of Boccaccio's magnum opus and a lasting testimony to Parisian illumination

Experience More

Albrecht von Eyb's Little Book on Marriage

Anton Koberger Print Workshop, Nuremberg (Germany) – 1472

An enlightening treatise for bachelors: Albrecht von Eyb's popular work on the pros and cons of marriage and starting a family, peppered with wisdom from Boccaccio and a dedication to the Nuremberg City Council

Experience More