[408] Fabliaux ou Contes du xii. et du xiii. Siecle, Fables et Romans du xiii. traduits ou extraits d’aprés plusieurs manuscrits du tems; avec des notes historiques et critiques, et les imitations qui out été faites de ces contes depuis leur origine jusqu’à nos jours. Nouvelle Edition, augmentée d’une dissertation sur les Troubadours. Par M. le Grand. En cinq tom. in 18mo. à Paris, 1781.

For the following enumeration of the Facetiæ of Poggio, which appear to correspond with some of the Fabliaux, I am indebted to the friendly diligence of the late Rev. John Greswell, for many years master of the college school at Manchester.

The first occurs in tom. i. p. 299 of the Fabliaux, entitled La Culotte des Cordeliers, and is, with some variations in the commencement, the Braccæ Divi Francisci of Poggio, p. 236 of the small edition of 1798. In vol. iii. p. 107, Le Testament de l’Ane, is in Poggio’s Facet. p. 45, Canis Testamentum. Same vol. p. 197, Du Villain et de sa femme, is in Poggio, p. 69, the Mulier Demersa, whose body is to be sought for as floating against the current, vol. iii. p. 201. Du pré tondu, alias De la femme contrariante, is the Pertinacia Muliebris in the Facetiæ, p. 68. Again, vol. iii. p. 292, Le Meunier d’Aleus, is in Poggio the story entitled Quinque Ova, p. 278 of the Facetiæ. Vol. iv. p. 192, Le Villain de Baïlleul, alias La femme qui fit croire à son Mari qu’il étoit mort, is mentioned as imitated by Poggio, but resembles his Mortuus loquens, p. 275, only at the close. In Poggio, the young man persuaded that he was dead, hearing himself abused during the procession of his corpse to burial, erecto capite, si vivus essem, sicut sum mortuus, inquit, dicerem, furcifer, te per gulam mentiri. In le Villain de Baïlleul, the husband persuaded by his wife that he is dead, Le Curé lui-méme entre pour chanter ses oremus aprés quoi il emmene la veuve dan la chambre. Pendant tout ce tems le Villain convaincu qu’il était mort, restait toujours sous le drap, sans remuer non plus qu’un cadavre. Mais entendant un certain bruit dans la chambre, et soulevant son linceul pour regarder: coquin de Pretre s’ecrie-t-il, tu dois bien remercier Dieu de ce que je suis mort, car sans cela, mordie, tu perirais ici sous le baton. Vol. iii. p. 287, De la Bourgeoise d’Orléans, alias De la dame qui fit battre son Mari, is said to be imitated in Poggio’s Fraus Muliebris, p. 20, but with much variation. Vol. iv. p. 304, De l’Anneau ... (Par Haisiau). All the account of this is as follows: Quoique le grave President Fauchet ait donné l’extrait de ce Fabliau, je n’en parlerais point si je n’avais à remarquer sur celuici, comme sur le précédent qu’il a été imité. Ou le trouve dans Vergier sous le titre de l’Anneau de Merlin. This is the Annulus which Poggio (Facet. p. 141) gives Philephus.

In addition to the above, Le Médecin de Bral, aliàs le Villain dévenu Médecin, tom. ii. p. 366, from which Moliere has borrowed his Médecin malgré lui, is in some parts imitated in the Poggiana, where an account is given of an expeditious method of clearing the sick list of an hospital on his estate, by an Italian cardinal. Deguisé en Médecin il leur declara qu’ on ne pouvait les guerir qu’ avec un onguent de graisse humaine, mais des qu’il eut proposé de tirer au sort à qui serait mis dans la chaudiere, tous viderent l’hôpital. Vol. iii. p. 95, Les deux Parasites, (une assez mauvaise plaisanterie) in the Facetiæ of Frischlinus is attributed to Poggio, and is in his Facetiæ, p. 67, Danthis Faceta Responsio. When Dante was dining with Canis Scaliger, the courtiers had privately placed all the bones before him. Versi omnes in solum Dantem, mirabantur cur ante ipsum solummodo ossa conspicerentur, tum ille, Minimè inquit mirum, si Canes ossa sua commederunt; ego autem non sum Canis. Le Grand does not notice this as contained in the Facetiæ of Poggio; but the resemblance is as great as between most of those that he notices.

[409] Poggii Opera, p. 219.

The popularity of the Facetiæ is evinced by the number of editions through which that work has passed; seven different impressions of it are thus enumerated by De Bure, who erroneously gives to Poggio the prœnomen of Franciscus.

1. Francisci Poggii Florentini Facetiarum Liber; editio vetustissima et originalis absque loci et anni indicatione, sed cujus in fronte apparet Epistola prœfatoria Bernardi cujusdam in senium deducti ad militem Raymundum Dominum Castri Ambrosii dicata, in 4to.

De Bure conjectures, that this edition was printed at Rome by George Laver or Ulric Han, in 1470.

2. Ejusdem Edito vetus et secunda originalis absque loci et anni indicatione ulla, sed typis Vindelini Spirensis, aut saltem Nicolai Jenson Gallici excusa Venetiis circa, an. 1471, in fol.

3. Ejusdem, Ferrariæ, 1471, 4to.