Famous Women (I Tatti Renaissance Library, 1) [Paperback]

Giovanni Boccaccio (Author), Virginia Brown (Translator)

Book Description

Series: I Tatti Renaissance Library, 1 | Publication Date: April 30, 2003

The first collection of biographies in Western literature devoted exclusively to women, Famous Women affords a fascinating glimpse of a moment in history when medieval attitudes toward women were beginning to give way to more modern views of their potential. Virginia Brown's acclaimed translation, commissioned for The I Tatti Renaissance Library, is the first English edition based on the autograph manuscript of the Latin.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

While largely known for the Decameron (c.1351), Boccaccio exercised a profound influence on British and European literature with his Latin De mulieribus claris. Geoffrey Chaucer inserted a translation of the "Zenobia" chapter into his "Monk's Tale," and Christine de Pizan took Famous Women as a starting point for her City of Women. Inspired by Petrarch's Lives of Famous Men, it represents the first biographical compendium of women's lives. Boccaccio prepared 106 brief lives of women ranging from Eve to Joanna, Queen of Jerusalem. Covering both the virtuous and the infamous, his figures are drawn mostly from Greco-Latin Antiquity, though he does offer an account of Pope Joan. While Boccaccio reflects the biases of the Late Middle Ages, he aims to be balanced and sympathetc in his accounts. This edition provides the original Latin with a graceful and accurate translation by medievalist Brown on facing pages, the first translation in almost 40 years. Her efforts are a profound contribution to literature. Highly recommended. T.L. Cooksey, Armstrong Atlantic State Univ., Savannah, GA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

In a pungent new translation by Virginia Brown, [Boccaccio's] famous women hold up very well indeed...The success of Famous Women suggests that [Renaissance] ladies read their Boccaccio as we are invited to read him: with forbearance for his foibles and delight in the tales he tells with such gusto and skill.
--Ingrid D. Rowland (New York Times Book Review )

For good or evil, as wife, mother, or whore, these women have the splendor of clarity; their individual destinies are sharply defined.
--Tim Parks (New York Review of Books )

Whatever his intentions--and it may be that feminism was a long-term outgrowth of the humanism that he pioneered--Boccaccio launched a lasting genre that urged women, as well as men, to reach for glory, and gave them examples to live by.
--David Quint (The New Republic )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (April 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674011309
• ISBN-13: 978-0674011304
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #680,926 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun!, January 3, 2004

By 

Megan "Megan" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Famous Women (The I Tatti Renaissance Library, 1) (Hardcover)

I'm not a classicist, so I'm not really sure why I bought this book, but I am having so much fun with it! It is filled with short biographical blurbs of, you guessed it, famous women. The sexism and religious bigotry is amazingly entertaining, as Boccaccio tries to reconcile ancient goddesses with his Renaissance Christian beliefs. I definately recomend this to anyone interested in women's history (even if they only dabble in it) or anyone interested in religious history.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not the book shown in the "Look Inside", January 8, 2008

By 

Raggedy Android (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Famous Women (I Tatti Renaissance Library, 1) (Paperback)

This paperback edition does *NOT* include side-by-side English-Latin as indicated in the images. Very disappointing. Amazon should make sure they are picturing the proper product on their site. The cover image is correct, but that's it. *Do not* purchase this item if you are looking for English-Latin. I am going to cross my fingers and purchase the hardcover in hopes that it might be accurately represented.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris, March 20, 2009

By 

Mithridates VI of Pontus (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Famous Women (I Tatti Renaissance Library, 1) (Paperback)

(some reviewers have noted that their edition did not include the Latin text - the hardcover has both Latin and English and the soft cover contains only the English translation)

Giovanni Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris was the first collection of biographies in Western literature "devoted exclusively to women". Boccaccio (1313-1375) dedicated it to Andrea Acciaiuoli, Countess of Atlavilla, a Tuscan noblewoman. This work was inspired by Petrarch's De viris illustribus. Boccaccio sought to record to posterity the stories of women who were virtuous and did good deeds. However, he includes both good and bad models for women. Boccaccio hoped that by including both models, his work will function as a "spur to virtue and a curb on vice." Boccaccio primarily selects pagan women of Greco-Roman antiquity. He excluded Christian women since they were celebrated in hagiographic literature. Secondly, pagan women who where not inspired by Christian virtue achieved "achieved earthly fame with the help of gifts and instincts they had received from Nature," or through the desire for glory. He believed that even these examples should be emulated by Christian women.

Some of the most interesting chapters in my opinion pertain to women connected to Nero and his reign. Chapter XCII concerns the life of Agrippina, mother of the monstrous Nero. Chapter XCII, tells the tale of Epicharis, a freedwoman, who joined the conspiracy against Nero and committed suicide rather than give the names of the conspirators. Chapter XCIV, recounts how Pompea Paulina wife of Seneca, Nero's tutor, tried to commit suicide with her husband but was rescued by Nero at the last moment. And lastly, Chapter XCV tells the legend of Sabina Poppea, the scheming wife of Nero, who dies ignominiously after being kicked by her husband while pregnant. Some other interesting women in the text include Lesbia, Minerva, and various Queens (Dido, Jacosta, etc).

Boccaccio stresses that women should be learned, loyal, and virtuous. He digresses lengthily on the virtues of Roman conception of marriage and laments how women in his time get married more than once. Likewise, he warns against lust and excessive scheming. Each chapter follows a similar structure. First, he begins with the name of the woman, her parentage, and her rank. Then, an explanation of her fame with allusions to historians and other authorities. Each ends concludes with an often lengthy moralizing precept.

This is an absolutely fascinating text. Often Boccaccio's Decameron overshadows his lesser known works. He also wrote a similar history of famous men which sadly does not have an English translation (an Italian edition exists in print). Virginia Brown provides a wonderful introduction, a source list for each chapter, and a truly beautiful translation which is a joy to read. It is fascinating comparing Boccaccio's account of famous women with Christine de Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies (considered the first feminist history). A must buy for the lay person and Medieval/Renaissance historian alike.