IL Decamerone Di M. Giovanni Boccaccio

E-176: Londra. Very Good. 1757. Hardcover. Leather. 8vo. Londra (ma Parigi; possibly printed by Prault in Paris). 1757. 5 volumes. Xi, 292, 271, 195, 261, 247 pages. Engraved title pages. Illustrated with tailpieces plates by Gravelot and Lemperer. Text in Italian. Slipcased in red cloth with spine label present to the top of the slipcase. Bound in 3/4 red leather with marble paper covered cloth with gilt and black band titles and gilt decoration present to the spines. Boards have light wear present to the extremities of the boards. Small m inked to the last page of the last volume. Several pages throughout the text are torn at the margins and repaired. Text is free of marks. Binding tight and solid. The Boccaccio is Gravelot's masterpiece so much he excels in gallant subjects and animated scenes. As for his spiritual cul-de-lamp, they are in the hands of a master ornamentalist. The figures in first tests, of a much higher rendering, are the peculiarity of the edition in Italian; two of them have been replaced in the French edition. (Ray, The Art of the French Illustrated Book, No. 15: "French collectors always have a preference for the Decameron in their own language, but the earlier Italian text has better impressions of the illustrations"). E-176; 8vo 8" - 9" tall .