The Heptameron is a collection of tales by Marguerite, Queen of Navarre, written in the tradition of Boccaccio's Decameron. Through a frame narrative, a group of men and women tell stories about love, fidelity, trickery, and human nature. It is worth listening to for its lively Renaissance storytelling and insight into sixteenth-century French courtly society.
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Cover of the original edition (Project Gutenberg, public domain).
Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
spines (63K) THE TALES OF THE HEPTAMERON OF Margaret, Queen of Navarre Newly Translated into English from the Authentic Text OF M. LE ROUX DE LINCY WITH AN ESSAY UPON THE HEPTAMERON BY GEORGE SAINTSBURY, M.A. Also the Original Seventy-three Full Page Engravings Designed by S. FREUDENBERG
And One Hundred and Fifty Head and Tail Pieces By DUNKER IN FIVE VOLUMES VOLUME THE FIRST LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY OF ENGLISH BIBLIOPHILISTS MDCCCXCIV Volume II. Volume III. Volume IV. Volume V. Frontispiece [Margaret, Queen of Navarre, from a crayon drawing by Clouet, preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris] Titlepage
List of Illustrations TALE CONTENTS
FIRST DAY. Tale I. The pitiful history of a Proctor of Alençon, named St. Aignan, and of his wife, who caused her husband to assassinate her lover, the son of the Lieutenant-General Tale II. The fate of the wife of a muleteer of Amboise, who suffered herself to be killed by her servant rather than sacrifice her chastity Tale III. The revenge taken by the Queen of Naples, wife to King Alfonso, for her husband’s infidelity with a gentleman’s wife Tale IV. The ill success of a Flemish gentleman who was unable to obtain, either by persuasion or force, the love of a great Princess Tale V. How a boatwoman of Coulon, near Nyort, contrived to escape from the vicious designs of two Grey Friars Tale VI. How the wife of an old valet of the Duke of Alençon’s succeeded in saving her lover from her husband, who was blind of one eye Tale VII. The craft of a Parisian merchant, who saved the reputation of the daughter by offering violence to the mother
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