Giambattista Basile (1566–1632) was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector best known for Lo cunto de li cunti (1634–36, The Tale of Tales,) also called Il Pentamerone.
Born in Giugliano, Kingdom of Naples, Basile served as a soldier and courtier to various Italian princes, including the Doge of Venice. He wrote poetry in Venice before returning to Naples, where he became a courtier under Don Marino II Caracciolo, Prince of Avellino.
His earliest known literary work is a preface to Giulio Cesare Cortese’s Vaiasseide (1604, The Servant’s Tale.) His poem Il Pianto della Vergine (1608, The Virgin’s Lament) followed soon after.
His most famous work, Lo cunto de li cunti (1634–36, The Tale of Tales,) was published posthumously by his sister Adriana Basile under the pseudonym Gian Alesio Abbatutis. The collection contains 50 fairy tales, including early versions of Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. The Brothers Grimm later praised it as the first national fairy tale collection. Basile also wrote Le muse napolitane (1635, The Neapolitan Muses,) a satirical verse dialogue on Neapolitan culture.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Giambattista Basile
Memory is the cabinet of the imagination, the treasury of reason, the registry of conscience, and, the council chamber of thought.
—Giambattista Basile
Topics: Memory, Memories
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