Opere di Giulio Cesare Cortese in lingua Napoletana

Six parts in one volume, 12mo (138x80 mm), [5], 96 pp.; 130, [2 blank] pp.; 96 pp.; 71, [1 blank] pp.; 84 [recte 80, pp. 73-76 omitted in pagination) pp.; 72 pp. Collation: a⁶ A-D¹² A-E¹² F⁶ A-D¹² A-C¹² D⁴ A-C¹². Contemporary vellum binding, calligraphic title on spine (slightly soiled, flyleaves renewed). Woodcut historiated initials and tail-pieces. Each part opens with a section title printed within a woodcut frame. Occasionally uniformly browned, but overall a good, genuine exemplar.

The present edition, printed in 1666 in Naples by Novello De Bonis for the bookseller Adriano Scultore and dedicated to the duke of Marigliano and San Marzano Giulio Mastrillo, represents, according to the editor's note to the reader, a definitive, heavily revised version of these texts that meticulously purged the countless typesetting and editorial errors plaguing previous rushed editions, finally restoring the texts to what the publisher deemed the author's true perfection. The volume collects all the six different novels written by the author Giulio Cesare Cortese:

• Micco Passaro nnammorato. Poema eroico: an heroic-comic poem mocking traditional chivalric romance. It traces the adventures of a Neapolitan bravo who falls in love.

• La rosa, favola: a pastoral fable written as a theatrical piece, showcasing Cortese's flexibility in formatting vernacular language for the stage.

• La vaiasseide, poema, Il pastor Sebeto, a compita perfettione ridotta, con gli argomenti, & alcune prose di Gian Alesio Abbattutis (pseudonym of the Neapolitan baroque author Giambattista Basile): his absolute masterpiece (originally published around 1612). It is a heroic-comic poem in five cantos centered on the lives, loves, fights, and language of vaiasse (Neapolitan servant women). It subverts classical epic tropes with brilliant, street-level realism.

• Li trauagliuse ammure de Ciullo, e Perna: a rare prose short story (novella) tracking the troubled, dramatic, and humorous love affairs of two everyday Neapolitans.
• Viaggio di Parnaso poema: an autobiographical, allegorical poem written in octaves where Cortese imagines traveling to Mount Parnaso (which mythology believed to be inhabited by the Muses) to represent the status and struggles of dialect poets.
• Lo cerriglio ncantato poema eroico: an heroic-comic poem set around the famous, gritty Neapolitan tavern Il Cerriglio, blending local tavern culture with elements of magic and enchantment.

The volume was also mentioned by Croce, a great Italian scholar, in his Saggi sulla letteratura italiana del Seicento. For Martorana, this is the most beautiful and elegant edition. The original edition was printed in Venice by Nicolò Missirini in 1621, but it did not contain  the poem "Lo cerriglio".

Giulio Cesare Cortese, is widely celebrated as one of the founding fathers of Neapolitan dialect literature alongside his contemporary Basile. Before Cortese, the vernacular dialect of Naples was primarily reserved for popular songs or brief comedic interludes; however, through his brilliant literary production, he elevated it into a legitimate artistic language by masterfully subverting classical genres like epic poetry and pastoral fables. His style is defined by a sharp, baroque realism that eschews idealized Renaissance tropes in favor of biting satire and a vivid, unfiltered depiction of the Neapolitan lower classes, street life, and marginal figures.

Italian Union Catalogue, IT\ICCU\SBLE\010122; Vinciana, 3049; Brunet, II, 313.

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