Les Nouvelles d'Antoine-Francois Grazzini

 Antonio Francesco GRAZZINI, called Il Lasca.; Jean Baptiste LEFEBVRE DE VILLEBRUNE

Berlin [Paris], 1776

2 volumes bound in one.  Bound in contemporary mottled calf.  Gilt ruled. Front hinge cracked. Binding solid. Marbled end sheets. xxviii. 583 pages.  Brunet II, page 1720; Hoefer 21, pages 767-769.  First French edition, translated by Lefebvre de Villebrune.  Grazzini (Florence 1503-1584) is considered one of the best Italian novelists following Boccaccio.  His "News" contains licentious and satirical stories of Florentine life. In addition to poetic and dramatic writings, Grazzini is also one of the founders of the Accademia della Crusca (1582) whose aim was to preserve the purity of the Italian language.