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lohmmis Boccaccii de Certaldo De mulieribus doris ad Andremn de Acciarolis de Florenti« Alteville comitissam liber inctpi; fcliciter
Here Begins the Book on Fa mous Women W/'itten by Giovanni Boccaccio of Certaldo and Dedicated to Andrea Acciaiuoli of Florence, Countess of Altavilla
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Scr ipsere iarndudum non nulli vcterurn sub compendio de viris il lust ribus libros; et nostr o evo, [ariori ramen volumine et accura tiori stile, vir insignis er poera egregius Franciscus Petrarca, pr e 2 cepro r noster, scribir: er dign e. N am qui, ur cereros antei rcnt claris facinoribus, studium omne, substantias, sanguinem er animam, exigenre oporrunirare, pos uere, pr ofecro ur eorum nomen in poste 3 ros perpetu a deduca rur memoria meruere. Sane mira tus sum plu rimurn adeo modicum apud huiusce viros poruisse mu lieres, ut nullam memo rie gratiam in speciali aliqua descripti on e consecut e sint, cum liqu ido ex amplioribus histor iis consrer qu asdam tam strenue quam forr irer egisse nonnulla. 4 Er si extollendi sum hom ines dum, concesso sibi robore, magna perfecerint, quant o amplius mulieres, quib us fere om nibus a na tura reru m mollities insita er corp us debile ac tardu m ingeniu m datu m est, si in virilem evaserint animum er ingen io celebri atque virtute consp icua audean r atque perficiant etiam d ifficillima viris, exrollend e sum? Et ideo, ne meriro fraudent ur suo, venit in animum ex his qu as memoria referee in glorie sue decus in unum deducere; eisque ad dere ex muft is quasdam, qu as aut audacia seu vires ingenii et in
Long ago th ere were a few ancient auth ors who composed biogra phies of famous men in th e form of compendia, and in our day th at renowned man and great poet, my teacher Petrarch, is writing a similar work th at will be even fuller and more carefully don e." T his is fitt ing. For those who gave all their zeal, th eir fortu nes, 2 and (when th e occasion required it) th eir blood and th eir lives in order to surpass other men in illustr ious deeds have cerrainly earned th e right to have th eir name s rememb ered forever by pos terity. What surprises me is how little atte nt ion wome n have at- 3 tracred from writers of this genre , and the absence of any work de voted especially to th eir memory, even though length ier histories show clearly th at some wome n have performed acts requir ing vigor and courage. If we gram th at men deserve praise whenever th ey perform grea t deeds with the strength bestowed upon them, how mu ch more should wom en be extolled - almost all of whom are en dowed by nature with soft, frail bodie s and sluggish minds - when th ey take on a manly spirit, show remarkable intelligence and brav ery, and dare to execute deeds th at would be extremely difficult even for men? Lest, th erefore, such women be cheated of th eir just du e, I had the idea of honoring th eir glory by assembling in a single volu me th e biograp hies of women whose memory is still green. To these I have added some lives from amo ng th e many women who are no
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