Libro dei Sette Savj (A)

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The Italian text titled Il Libro dei Sette Savj, edited by Alessandro d'Ancona (1864), from whom it takes its siglum 'A', adheres closely to the standard Version A story pattern. Unlike the two other Italian Version A redactions (the Italian Prose (V) and Storia favolosa di Stefano) this version maintains all fifteen expected stories, in the order in which the appear in most French Version A manuscripts - unsurprising, given that the presumed source material for this text is a French A text. Wikeley (1983) suggests that the Old French source text for this Italian redaction appears to have been quite similar to Paris BNF, fr. 2137 - the same text partially edited by Le Roux de Lincy, Roman des Sept Sages de Rome (1838).

The dating of this version is currently unclear. In the description given in Runte, Wikeley, Farrell (1984), the authors suggest that d'Ancona 'ascribes the text he edited... to the end of the 13th century' (p. 128). D'Ancona situates the text in the 'buon secolo della lingua', the golden age of Italian vernacular literature between c. 1220-1350 (vii), but does not offer a specific date. D'Agostino (2022) comments on the 'problema cronologico', noting that it is difficult to say whether this is a 13th or 14th century codex; it follows the pattern of the 13th century French texts, however (p. 179). Wikeley (1983) suggests (in passing) a fifteenth century date for this text, which corresponds with the date for Florence Biblioteca nazionale centrale, Palatino 680 - the supplemental text d'Ancona used as an appendix. However, it seems Florence Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Gaddiano 166 predates this.

It is worth noting that this redaction appears to be, out of all the Italian Version A texts, most closely related to the French Version A tradition. D'Agostino notes that this version is celebrated for its proximity to the 'lingua d'oïl' of the time, and is famous as one of the texts 'piú ricchi di francesismi' in Italian medieval literature (p. 179) (see also Bianchi (2014-2015)).


[Added by Jane Bonsall]


Tradition & Lineage

Branch of the tradition
Seven Sages of Rome
Adapted from (version)
French Version A: Roman des Sept Sages
Source for composition and adaptation information
Wikeley (1983)

Recorded Secondary Versions

Connected Manuscripts

Language & Composition

Language of version
Italian


Place of composition
Tuscany, Italy
Date of Composition
1250 - 1400


Source for date of composition
D'Agostino (2022)

Modern Scholarship & Editions

Modern research literature
D'Ancona (1864), Wikeley (1983), Runte, Wikeley, Farrell (1984), D'Agostino (2022), Segre (1959), Bozzoli (1999), Comparetti (1869), Bianchi (2014-2015)
Modern Editions
D'Ancona, Il Libro dei Sette Savj (1864), Bianchi, Libro dei sette savi di Roma (2014-2015), Giannetti, Libro dei Sette Savi di Roma (2012)


Pattern of Embedded Stories in This Version
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This page was last edited on 2 March 2026, at 20:14.
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