Giambattista Basile

Stories From Pentamerone Giambattista Basile

Stories From Pentamerone was published posthumously in two volumes by the author's sister Adriana in Naples, Italy in 1634 and 1636 under the pseudonym Gian Alesio Abbatutis. Although neglected for some time, the work received a great deal of attention after the Brothers Grimm praised it highly as the first national collection of fairy tales. Many of these fairy tales are the oldest known variants in existence. They include the earliest known European versions of Rapunzel and Cinderella with the Chinese version of Cinderella dating from 850-60 AD.