might the world have been the better for it, had they been tastes, and
nothing more. But that you should inherit also that zeal for justice to
mankind, which has become so Christian a feature in the character of the
age, and that you should include in that zeal a special regard for the
welfare of your Father's Friend, are subjects of constant pleasurable
reflection to

Your obliged and affectionate

LEIGH HUNT.



PREFACE.


The purpose of these volumes is, to add to the stock of tales from the
Italian writers; to retain as much of the poetry of the originals as it
is in the power of the writer's prose to compass; and to furnish careful
biographical notices of the authors. There have been several collections
of stories from the Novellists of Italy, but none from the Poets; and it
struck me that prose versions from these, of the kind here offered to
the public, might not be unwillingly received. The stories are selected
from the five principal narrative poets, Dante, Pulci, Boiardo, Ariosto,
and Tasso; they comprise the most popular of such as are fit for
translation; are reduced into one continuous narrative, when diffused
and interrupted, as in the instances of those of Angelica, and Armida;
are accompanied with critical and explanatory notes; and, in the case of
Dante, consist of an abstract of the poet's whole work. The volumes are,
furthermore, interspersed with the most favourite _morceaux_ of the