Italian courtesy-books

The volume gathers medieval and Renaissance Italian courtesy literature, presenting translations, extracts, and editorial commentary on manuals of social conduct, table manners, and civic behavior. It juxtaposes original Italian texts with English renderings and compares Italian refinements with contemporary French and English examples, while offering biographical notes on contributors and editors. Selections include moral and practical passages on speech, generosity, and decorum, longer didactic poems, and dialogues on love, family governance, and feminine conduct, alongside excerpts from influential treatises on courtly and domestic etiquette. The editor provides historical framing, textual notes, and summaries to make these varied specimens accessible to modern readers.