Inside the book

The book opens with a fine architectural title page with ornamental friezes and allegorical figures (including the river Jordan), the same border used in the previous edition. The prefatory dedication by the printer Ziletti to the reader is introduced by a full-page image of an Astronomer bearing the Latin motto (here translated): No one can be truly wise unless he rules over the stars. It is followed by an additional fable (bringing the total count to 101), which the printer chose to insert, with its own separate engraving, because he felt it particularly close to his heart: it tells of a man who, in trying to please everyone, ultimately brings about his own ruin and achieves no one’s happiness. The hundred fables proper begin on p. 16, and the volume then unfolds in finely composed pages set in italic type (with the “morale” at the end of each story printed in roman), accompanied by a multitude of clever, curious, dangerous, or foolish animals placed in unexpected situations. Mythological or supernatural figures also appear, alongside human characters. Bibliographies suggest that some of the woodcuts may derive from designs by Titian. The final index pages list all one hundred fables not only by their short titles but also with their moral lessons, underscoring the book’s serious educational purpose.