Background
Luigi Da Porto was born at Vicenza, Italy on August 10, 1485.
(Excerpt from Romeo and Juliet: A Photographic Reproductio...)
Excerpt from Romeo and Juliet: A Photographic Reproduction of Luigi Da Porto's Prose Version of Romeo and Giulietta Dated 1535 Being the Original Source of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet In this early Greek novel we already perceive the amalgamation of two distinct episodes, namely, the separation and the potion parts. There is no evidence that Da Porto was acquainted with this work. It remained in manuscript until the 17th century and, although Douce, the Shakespearean scholar, considers that Da Porto may have read the story in manuscript, this opinion is no longer main tained by modern students. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Luigi Da Porto was born at Vicenza, Italy on August 10, 1485.
Wounds put an end to his brilliant career as a soldier, and he turned to writing, living first at Venice and later at Vicenza. The Istoria novellamente ritrovata di due nobili amanti ("Newly-discovered story of two noble lovers") was composed in 1524 and enjoyed great popularity. Taking his plot, with its folklore theme of the potion causing apparent death, from a tale by Masuccio Salernitano, Da Porto made Verona the scene, and adopted from Dante's Purgatorio the names Montecchi and Cappelletti (Montagues and Capulets) for the warring families. Matteo Bandello rewrote the story (1554), and his version was translated into French with minor changes by Boaistuau (1559). This version in turn inspired Arthur Brooke's Tragical history of Romeus and Juliet (1562), which was Shakespeare's principal source for Romeo and Juliet.
(Excerpt from Romeo and Juliet: A Photographic Reproductio...)
(Storia di Giulietta e Romeo con la loro pietosa morte)