Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents ix
3. Primary Texts xi
4. Abbreviations xiii
5. Preface xv
6. Acknowledgments xxi
7. BOCCACCIO DEFENDS LITERATURE 1
8. Chapter One The Genealogy of the Gods Books 14 and 15 and the Defence of Poetry 24
9. Chapter Two Petrarch versus Boccaccio on Poetry 53
10. Chapter Three Defensio and Laudatio: Boccaccio and the Poetry of Others 82
11. Chapter Four The Decameron in Dialogue with the Genealogy of the Gods: How the Decameron Defends Vernacular Prose Fiction – Part 1 113
12. Chapter Five The Decameron in Dialogue with the Genealogy of the Gods: How the Decameron Defends Vernacular Prose Fiction – Part 2 140
13. Conclusion 172
14. Appendix Comic Tales in the Decameron 181
15. Notes 185
16. Bibliography 239
17. Index 273