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Two volumes. xvi, 1-282; vi, [283]-562 pp.  (8vo) 26x15.5 cm (10¼x6¼"). original gilt-lettered cloth, page edges  untrimmed. No. 17 of 165 sets on large paper. First Edition in English.

There were also 1,500 sets on ordinary paper. One of the first anthologies of fairy tales, these narratives were apparently gathered by Basile (died 1637) in Crete and Venice and published in 1634 in a format similar to Boccaccio's Decamerone. Published in an obscure Neapolitan dialect and stylistically rather over-ornate, these tales were long overlooked, although they contain analogues to many famous modern tales, such as Cinderella & Sleeping Beauty. In 1822 the Grimm Brothers wrote that this work was "for a long time the best and richest [collection of fairy tales] that had been found by any nation." Sir Richard Burton, who had previously translated The Arabian Nights, died soon after making this first complete translation into English. These volumes once belonged to Bertrand Russell, with his ownership signature, dated  Jan. 1894,  on the front free endpaper of each. Penzer, pp. 155-156.