More on the ‘editio princeps’ of the “Decameron” (Pr. 6748, ISTC ib00725200)

With some considerations on the location of ‘sine notis’ editions and the distribution of Italian incunabula in Italian and foreign libraries

Abstract

The two parts of this contribution discuss the attribution of the editio princeps of the Decameron, the incunabulum devoid of typographical notes known as Deo gratias. In the first part, after a review of the attributive question among scholars, it is proposed a reflection on an alleged dichotomy between a philological-linguistic method and an incunabular method, through a punctual linguistic verification, highlighting the need for a plurality of approaches, which cannot be univocally hierarchised. In the second part, an analysis of ISTC data of the distribution of Italian incunabula in Italian and foreign institutions aims to assess the validity of an attributive hypothesis based on the current location of known incunabula and provides some new data on the Italian incunabular heritage.