The Tales of Firenzuola presents in English translation the ten extant stories of this collection, which are delightful, humorous and realistic pictures of secular, urban life in Tuscany during the Renaissance. The Talesare probably the most popular of Firenzuola's prose works. On one side they continued in the popular story-telling tradition of Boccaccio and on the other the Tales contain the seeds of the developing Italian novel of the 16th century. These tales reflect the worldly realism of the town rather than the elevated idealism of the court. Full of sex, money, revenge and anti-clericalism, they draw a humorous, entertaining, bawdy and realistic picture of Florence and neighboring Tuscany in the early 16th century. With witty style and fast-paced narration the Tales are a bridge in literary history from the medieval tales to the picaresque novel. Translated from Italian. Illustrated.