Boccaccio

Hermann Hesse

Sep 2023 · Newcomb Livraria Press

About this ebook

"I cannot read Hermann Hesse without feeling that I am drawn into the presence of a deeply serious mind, a mind that is searching for the meaning of life." - Carl Jung

A new 2023 translation of Hesse's 1904 Boccaccio. This edition also contains an epilogue by the translator, a philosophical glossary of concepts used by Hesse and a chronology of his life and work. Hesse won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947. He also received the Goethe Prize of Frankfurt in 1946 and the 1955 Peace Prize of the German Booksellers.

"Boccaccio is a biographical account of the life of the great Italian artist Giovanni Boccaccio, written by Hermann Hesse. Pathographys like this were also being published about other authors such as Freud and Jund at this time. Published in Berlin in April 1904, it delves into the complex lifespan and art of Boccaccio. This Pathography starts with his parents. The father of the novella's narrator, a resident of Certaldo, becomes entangled in the mercantile world of Florence. During an extended stay in Paris on behalf of a Florentine financier, he falls in love with a beguiling widow. From this liaison, Giovanni Boccaccio was born in 1313.

About the author

A German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter, Hesse’s literature deeply explores the individual's search for self-knowledge, authenticity, and spirituality. Influenced by Eastern philosophy, Nietzsche and Jungian psychology (he was a personal friend of Jung), his works like "Siddhartha" and "Steppenwolf" became emblematic of the counter-culture movements of the 20th century and literary manifestations of Continental Philosophy. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946, Hesse's highly individualistic and spiritual narratives continue to inspire personal growth and Socratic self-awareness