BOCCACCIO (Giovanni): - The Decameron or Ten Days Entertainment of Boccaccio. Translated from the Italian. In Two Volumes. The Second Edition. To which are prefixed, Remarks on the Life and Writings of Boccaccio, and An Advertisement, by the author of Old Nick, a Piece of Family Biography, &c.

London: Printed by J. Wright...For Vernor and Hood..., Longman and Reese..., 1804. 2 volumes. 8vo, 208 x 126 mms., pp. 350 [351 adverts, 352 blank]; [iv], 395 [396 colophon], including half-title in each volume, engraved portrait (after Titian) of Boccaccio as frontispiece in volume 1, engraved vignette on each title-page, contemporary tree calf, red and green morocco labels; joints on volume 1 cracked (but holding), but a good set. This translation by Charles Balguy (1708 - 1767) was first published in 1741, and ODNB claims that it was many times reprinted. The present set does seem to be a much expanded second edition, with a great deal of additional material. The revision is by Edward Dubois (1774 - 1850), who published A Piece of Family Biography in 1799 and Old Nick: a Satirical Story in 1801. The notice in The European Magazine and London Review, for 1804, having asserted that Il Decamerone had always been "considered too free in its language for general perusal" praises Dubois' redaction: "A Gentleman and Scholar who has able distinguished himself as Novelist and Critic under the whimsical name of Old Nick, has her done all that we think can be performed towards purifying and chastening the diction, without deteriorating the rich humour of the Novels."

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