The Decameron

The Decameron is a book by 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio. Structured as a frame story, the book contains a hundred tales that are told by a group of seven young women and three young men as they reside in a secluded villa in Italy, trying to escape the Black Death. Ranging from the erotic to the tragic, the tales include life lessons, wit, practical jokes, and a document of life in the 1300s. This translation by John Payne was the first complete translation into English and includes copious footnotes that seek to explain Boccaccio's double-entendres and other references. Tales from the Decameron have been adapted many times, including by William Shakespeare who based All's Well That Ends Well on the tale of Giletta di Narbona (tale nine of day three).