Giornata Quarta, Nella Quale Si Raconnta (Italian Monk book) Written Circa 1600s. 

Size: 9 3/8 X 6 5/8 X 1 in. 

This book is titled Giornata Quarta, Nella Quale Si Raconnta, which tells about the life of monks in Italy centuries ago, and “Giornata Quarta, Nella Quale Si Racconta” is part of Boccaccio's Decameron, which was written between 1348 and 1353. The Decameron was a literary response to the Black Death outbreak in Italy that ravaged Florence in the 1300’s, and Boccaccio's personal experiences during that time inspired the work. The two lines below the heading on the first page say “La Vita do quei Monaci, che hanno composto qualche opera di qual si voglia scienza,” which means The Life of those Monks who have composed some work on any science, and we don’t know if this is related to the Black Death and any records the monks might have kept, but the book takes on a  whole new meaning if that is true. The book is one-quarter bound, with horizontal gilt rules and gilt lettering on the spine that say Vita di Monaci - the life of Monks -  marbled boards, blank endpapers, double-page entries, so 371 consists of two pages - 371 on the left and 371 on the right, followed by two pages for 372 etc., and 476 is the last page of entry. Each page has black borders, with notes in the margins provided by the publisher, there are no illustrations, and the publisher and publishing date are  not listed, but we believe the book was written in the 1600’s, and it is in the original Italian. Page 369 (the first page) mentions Don Michele Buonauolti, who left Parma and arrived at Santa Giustina around midday. When we looked up Don Michele Buonauolti, the computer kept saying that was Don Michele Buonarroti, who is Michelangelo, but we don’t believe they are the same person, and D. Luciano Fiorentino, who was also mentioned on page 369, was a teacher (Maestro). The first page also mentions being married in the Abbey of Florence (quando eravamo nouizzi nella Badia di Firenze), a beautiful church in Florence recognizable  by its pencil-shaped bell tower. The book measures 9 3/8 x 6 5/8 inches wide and is in very good condition. The binding is tight, all the pages are present, with no marks or tears, and there are faint brown spots and offset throughout. The spine has faded a bit, but to be expected with age, and there is faint wear along the edges. You can get more information at the National Central Library of Rome (The Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma), and we believe that can fill in the blanks. The library keeps records on the abbeys and monks from long ago.