Beginning students of Italian language and literature will welcome this bilingual anthology edited especially for their needs. Ranging from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries, it features the works of Dante, Boccaccio, Pirandello, and fifty-two others in both the original Italian and expert English translations on the facing pages. Selections include excerpts from poetry, fiction, history, and philosophy.This is a "first reader" in the sense of its introduction to Italian literature from the 1300s to the 1920s. A solid background in Italian grammar is necessary for the fullest appreciation of the original text. The excerpts are unadulterated, not retold or simplified. Readers can sample the works of men renowned for other talents, such as Michelangelo and Galileo, and discover the original language of The Decameron, The Prince, and even Pinocchio. This self-contained anthology can be used with or without an instructor. It will thrill anyone seeking a fast-paced survey of a vital body of literature from one of the world's greatest cultural legacies.

Introduction1. Storybook (ca. 1300): 3 stories2. Dante (1265-1321): The Divine Comedy3. Petrarca (1304-1374): 5 sonnets4. Boccaccio (1313-1375): Decameron5. Sacchetti (ca. 1330-1400): The Three Hundred Tales6. The Little Flowers of Saint Francis (ca. 1390)7. Ser Giovanni Fiorentino: Pecorone (ca. 1400)8. Pulci (1432-1484): Morgante9. Boiardo (1441-1494): Orlando in Love10. Lorenzo de' Medici (1449-1492): 2 lyric poems11. Poliziano (1454-1494): 2 lyric poems12. Sannazaro (1455-1530): Arcadia13. Machiavelli (1469-1527): The Prince14. Bembo (1470-1547): The Asolo Discourses15. Ariosto (1474-1533): The Frenzy of Orlando16. Michelangelo (1475-1564): 2 sonnets17. Castiglione (1478-1529): The Courtier18. Guicciardini (1483-1540): Florentine Histories & History of Italy19. Bandello (1484-1561): Stories20. Da Porto (1485-1529): "History . . . of Two Noble Sweethearts"21. Straparola (ca. 1490-ca. 1557): The Pleasant Nights22. Cellini (1500-1571): Autobiography23. Della Casa (1503-1556): Galateo24. Cinzio (1504-1573): The Hundred Tales25. Vasari (1511-1574): The Lives26. Stampa (ca. 1523-1554): 3 sonnets27. Tasso (1544-1595): Jerusalem Delivered28. Bruno (1548-1600): Cause, Principle, and Unity29. Galileo (1564-1642): The Assayer30. Campanella (1568-1639): The City of the Sun31. Marino (1569-1625): Adonis32. Vico (1668-1744): The New Science33. Metastasio (1698-1782): 2 sonnets34. Gozzi (1713-1786): 2 sonnets35. Parini (1729-1799): sonnet36. Alfieri (1749-1803): 3 sonnets37. Monti (1754-1828): 2 sonnets38. Foscolo (1778-1827): 5 sonnets39. Manzoni (1785-1873): The Betrothed40. Pellico (1789-1854): My Prisons41. Leopardi (1798-1837): 2 lyric poems42. De Sanctis (1817-1883): History of Italian Literature43. Collodi (1826-1890): The Adventures of Pinocchio44. Nievo (1831-1861): The Confessions of an Italian45. Carducci (1835-1907): 2 lyric poems and a prose passage46. Verga (1840-1922): Master Gesualdo47. Boito (1842-1918): "The Black Chess Bishop"48. Fogazzaro (1842-1911): Malombra49. Pascoli (1855-1912): 3 lyric poems50. Svero (1861-1928): Old Age51. D'Annunzio (1863-1938): The Innocent One & verse52. Croce (1866-1952): Breviary of Esthetics53. Pirandello (1867-1936): The Late Mattia Pascal54. Deledda (1871-1936): Reeds in the Wind55. Saba (1883-1957): 4 lyric poems