Tales of Love, Cleverness, and Violence in Tomaso Costo’s "Fuggilozio" (1596)

This selection from Tomaso Costo’s Fuggilozio (The Cure for Indolence, 1596) translates entertaining, dramatic, or witty examples of the over four hundred stories and anecdotes of the original. Together, they offer an engaging window into the lively culture and society of Naples and Italy generally. Though the story-tellers are all from the city’s elite, the characters in the stories they tell run the social and professional gamut, from peasants to emperors, and the variety and brevity of the ta