The Pleasant Nights - Volume 1

This enchanting collection, The Pleasant Nights - Volume 1, features a variety of engaging folk tales and fables, blending entertainment with scholarly insight.

Set in the enchanting world of folklore, The Pleasant Nights - Volume 1 is a remarkable collection of stories that showcases the creativity and imagination of Giovan Francesco Straparola. This anthology, first published in the mid-16th century, features an array of seventy-three tales, including folk stories, fables, and proto-fairy tales. Many of these narratives, such as the beloved ‘Puss in Boots,’ made their debut in this collection, marking it as a significant contribution to the evolution of the European fairy tale tradition. The diverse themes and engaging narratives ensure that readers will find something that resonates with them.

This critical edition presents these timeless stories in English for the first time in over a century, drawing from the renowned Waters translation while enhancing its fidelity to the original text. The fresh, idiomatic rendering brings new life to Straparola's work, making it accessible to contemporary audiences. Accompanied by a rich array of illustrations from various historical versions, The Pleasant Nights - Volume 1 offers a visual feast that complements the enchanting tales within.

In addition to the stories themselves, this edition includes extensive commentary and a thoughtful introduction by Donald Beecher. He explores Straparola's significance as an author and the cultural evolution of fairy tales, providing readers with a deeper understanding of the narratives' origins and their connections to ancient storytelling traditions. This scholarly approach, combined with the lightheartedness of the tales, makes The Pleasant Nights - Volume 1 a delightful read for both casual readers and those with a keen interest in literary history.