The French translation of the Erasto narrative was first published in Lyon in 1564 by Gabriel Cotier, given the title Histoire pitoyable du Prince Erastus, fils de Diocletien, empereur de Rome. The Histoire was produced only twelve years after the original publication of the Italian original; however, the Italian had already gone through more than ten printings by the time the French version was translated. Like the Italian, the French Histoire was enormously popular, with more than ten print editions by 1600.
The French text was reportedly the source for Francis Kirkman's 17th century Erasto text, and therefore the continuation of the tradition in English.
Much later, in 1709, the Chevalier de Mailly produced a new reworking of the material. Some scholars (mostly recently Runte, Wikeley, Farrell (1984), and Farrell and Andrachuk (1996)) suggest that this was a translation of Hurtado de la Vera's Spanish Historia Lastimera d'el Principe Erasto. However, a study by Marina Pedrol-Aguilà (2020) illustrates the closeness of this text to the 16th-century French iteration. Pedrol-Aguilà notes that Chevalier de Mailly's introduction promises embellishments and 'improvements' to the 'barbarous style' of the original French Histoire, and his tendency for amplification is directly at odds with the abbreviation demonstrated by Hurtado de la Vera (p. 523-24). It is also noteworthy that this translation was produced when the Seven Sages / Book of Sinbad was in particular vogue in France: Petis de la Croix produced his edition of the Forty Viziers just two years earlier, and three years before that, Galland's translation of the One Thousand and One Nights had enormous success (Pedrol Aguilà (2020)).
Literature & Editions
Modern research literature
Recorded Branch of This Secondary Version
Connected Prints
| | Has Language | Has Sort Date Of Print | Has Place Of Printing |
|---|
| Histoire Pitoyable du Prince Erastus, Fils de Diocletian, Empereur de Rome. [...] Orléans, Eloy Gibier, 1576 | French | 1576 JL | Orléans, France |
| Histoire mémorable du prince Erastus, fils de Dioclétian, empereur des Romains. Lyon: Pierre Rigaud, 1604 | French | 1604 | |
| Histoire mémorable du prince Erastus, fils de Dioclétian, empereur des Romains. Lyon: s.n., 1604 (lost) | French | 1637 | Lyon, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du Prince Eraste fils de dioclétien, traduite de l'Italien. Lyon: s.n., 1584 | French | 1584 | Lyon, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du Prince Erastus fils de Diocletien, Empereur de Rome [...] Paris: printed for Robert Le Mangnier, 1570. | French | 1570 JL | Paris, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du Prince Erastus, fils de Diocletien Empereur de Rome. [...] Paris: Nicolas Bonfons, 1587 | French | 1587 | Paris, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du Prince Erastus, fils de Diocletien, Empereur de Rome […] Lyon: Widow of Gabriel Cotier, 1584 | French | 1584 | Lyon, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du Prince Erastus, fils de Diocletien, Empereur de Rome. Paris: Bruneau, 1566 | French | 1566 JL | Paris, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du Prince Erastus, fils de Diocletien, Empereur de Rome. Paris: Galliot du Pré, 1573 | French | 1573 JL | Paris, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du Prince Erastus, fils de Diocletien, Empereur de Rome. [...] Antwerp: Jan van Waesberge, 1568 | French | 1568 JL | Antwerp, Belgium |
| Histoire pitoyable du Prince Erastus, fils de Diocletien, empereur de Rome. Lyon: Gabriel Cotier, 1564 | French | 1564 JL | Lyon, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du Prince Érastus, fils de Dioclétien, Empereur de Romme. [...] Paris: Nicolas Bonfons, 1579 | French | 1579 JL | Paris, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du prince Erastus, discours. Rouen: s.n., 1646 (lost) | French | 1646 | Rouen, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du prince Erastus, fils de Diocletian Empereur de Rome. [...] Paris: Printed for Mathieu Guillemot, 1587 | French | 1587 | Paris, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du prince Erastus, fils de Diocletian empereur de Rome. Paris: Pierre Anguerrand, 1639 | French | 1639 | Paris, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du prince Erastus, fils de Diocletien Empereur de Romme. [...] Lyon, Benoist Rigaud, 1585 | French | 1585 | Lyon, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du prince Erastus, fils de Diocletien empereur de Rome. Lyon: Gabriel Cotier, 1565 | French | 1565 JL | Lyon, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du prince Erastus, fils de Diocletien, empereur de Rome. [...] Paris: Hierosme de Marnef & the Widow of Guillaume Cavellat, 1584. | French | 1584 | Paris, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du prince Erastus, fils de Dioclétian, empereur de Rome. Paris: Pierre Anguerrand, 1634 | French | 1634 | Paris, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du prince Erastus, fils de Dioclétien, empereur de Rome [...]. Paris: printed for Robert le Mangnier, 1566 | French | 1566 JL | Paris, France |
| Histoire pitoyable du prince Erastus, fils de Dioclétien, empereur de Rommé, contenant exemples et notables discours. Paris: Nicolas Bonfons, 1572 | French | 1572 JL | Paris, France |
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