Il Pentamerone is essentially the first full collection of European literary fairy tales. Written by Giambattista Basile and published in 1634-6, the Italian tales predate Charles Perrault by at least 50 years and the Grimm Brothers by 200 years. The book is not as well known today since it was originally written in the difficult Neapolitan dialect and was not translated into English until 1847 by John Edward Taylor. However, the book contains stories that are very similar to well-known tales such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Snow White, and others.
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