MASUCCIO SALERNITANO. The Novellino.

MASUCCIO SALERNITANO. The Novellino. Translated by W. G. Waters. Illustrated by E. R. Hughes. 2 volumes. 4to, handsome black morocco with elaborately gilt borders, spine, and turn-ins, by bradstreet, joints somewhat rubbed and starting; contemporary calf bookplates on pastedown of collectors henry william poor and Rudolph Witthaus. London, 1895

number 86 of 210 numbered copies on vellum of the first english translation. Italian novelist Masuccio Salernitano (1420-ca. 1480) was the first of many Italian imitators of Boccaccio's Decameron (1353), and his works were an influence on Shakespeare. Il Novellino, a collection of prose romances, includes the story of Mariotto and Gianozza, a tale which bears a strong resemblance to Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice.