https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=1389043
https://doi.org/10.60056/Lit.2025.35.60–72
Nikolay Aretov
In 1853, Hristo Vasilev Protopopovich published his translation from Greek of “Le sottilissime astuzie di Bertoldo” (1606) by Giulio Cesare Della Croce. This is one of the first Bulgarian illustrated editions; the illustrations are taken from the Greek source, and their author is unknown. These, in turn, were based on an Italian edition from 1646 and corresponded to the style of the folk book. Ludovico Mattioli illustrated a later Italian edition from 1736 based on designs by Giuseppe Maria Crespi. Numerous later editions duplicated these pictures, which were done in a more classicist style. Observations of the various illustrations reveal an interesting development – from popular to more traditional literature, and in the 20th century, as reading material intended for children.
Keywords: Hristo Vasilev Protopopovich, Giulio Cesare Della Croce, “Bertoldo”, popular literature, Giuseppe Maria Crespi, Ludovico Mattioli
About the author: Dr Hab. Nikolai Aretov Aretov is Professor at the Institute for Literature, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and lecturer at Sofia University. Author of several books, published in Bulgarian, among then “The Translated Prose from the First Half of 19th Century” (1990), “The Bulgarian Murder: Plots with Crimes in Bulgarian Literature” (1994, 2 revised ed. 2007), Vasil Popovic. His Life and His Work” (2000), “Bulgarian National Revival and Europe” (1995; 2 ed. 2001), “National Mythology and National Literature” (2006), “Asen Christophorov: From London to Matsakurtsi via Belene” (2011), “Bulgarian Literature from the Age of National Revival” (2009), “Sofroniy from Vratza. Life and Oeuvre” (2017), “Ivan Naydenov. For Rights and Progress” (2019), “The varied Chudomir during its era” (2024, with A. Benbassat).
