This edition presents 33 of the 100 tales, with at least two from each of the ten days of storytelling. Boccaccio’s general introduction and conclusion to the work are also included, as are the introduction and conclusion to the first day; the reader is thus provided with a real sense of the Decameron’s framing narrative. Extensive explanatory notes are provided, and the volume is prefaced by a concise but wide-ranging introduction to Boccaccio’s life and times, as well as to the Decameron itself. A unique selection of contextual materials concludes the volume.

Giovanni Boccaccio's profile page

Donald Beecher is Chancellor’s Professor and a professor in the Department of English at Carleton University.

Don Beecher's profile page

Massimo Ciavolella taught for many years at Carleton University and at the University of Toronto before coming to his present positions as professor and chair, Department of Italian, and professor of comparative literature at the University of California, Los Angeles. He also assisted in the translation of The Scruffy Scoundrels.

Massimo Ciavolella's profile page

“Furnished with an engaging selection of tales, a formidable apparatus of primary texts and reproductions [from the] visual arts, this is an ideal text for a course in English on Boccaccio’s Decameron. The translators have struck an enviable balance between the colloquial valences of the dialogue and the more formal moments of its register, all while untangling the complex syntax that can be daunting to the non-specialist….This is a Decameron that is accessible and comprehensible, inviting the general reader into its rich narrative world.” — Kristina M. Olson, George Mason University

“Boccaccio… is unsurpassed in the illuminating perspective from which he explores the variety of dramas of his characters in their day to day interactions,… [and this] rendition of the Decameron is extraordinary: it breathes fresh life into this classic of world literature.” — Giuseppe Mazzotta, Sterling Professor in the Humanities for Italian, Yale University

“The translators have provided a smart and engaging selection of the best tales of the Decameron. Their lively prose translation successfully captures the oral scene of storytelling that is central to the book while still attending to important specifics of Boccaccio’s language. A carefully conceived collection of secondary readings completes this volume, which will allow readers to enjoy Boccaccio’s masterpiece from a variety of perspectives.” — Michael Sherberg, Washington University