Il Pentamerone
Fifty Famous Fairy Tales
Giambattista Basile

Il Pentamerone is a collection of fifty famous fairy tales both written and collected by Giambattista Basile.

Few people realize that tales like Puss-in-Boots, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella have origin in Basile's collection...

There are tales that we can pre-date, even from Chinese origins, but many of Giambattista's tales were later adapted by the Brother's Grimm and Charles Perrault.

He was an Italian poet and short-story writer born in 1566 or possibly in 1575, according to Benedetto Croce.

He came from Naples or Napoli, Italy and he was also a fairy tale collector.

He started out as a soldier for the Venetian Republic's service and courtier to Italian Princes.

He died in 1632 and by then ranked as 'count', Conte di Torrone. He is known for his 1634–36 Lo cunto de' li cunti which is a collection of Neapolitan fairy tales that translates as 'The Tale of Tales'.

They were published after his death by his sister Adriana. They are a collection of fifty short stories, and were meant to be told in five days, hence the title Pentamerone.

These are actually the most influential tales in the history of European Literature, and were written in the dialect of Naples.

And through the following centuries it was translated and rewritten into other languages, as well as, illustrated by artists such as Warwick Goble.

Return from Il Pentamerone Fifty Famous Fairy Tales by Giambattista Basile to Fairies Fantasy Art HomePage