cover image Galateo: Or, The Rules of Polite Behavior

Galateo: Or, The Rules of Polite Behavior

Giovanni Della Casa, edited and trans. from the Italian by M.F. Rusnak. Chicago, $15 trade paper (144p) ISBN 978-0-226-01097-7

Appearing for the first time in English since 1811, this new translation of Giovanni Della Casa’s classic guide to good living is a fascinating glimpse at the social niceties and surprisingly familiar faux pas of the Renaissance. Della Casa (1503-1556), who originally penned his treatise for the benefit of his young Florentine nephew, lambasts perennial peccadillos like clipping one’s nails at the table, spitting, talking too much about your dreams, and acting like you know it all. By comparison, antiquated passages on manners at communal cooking pits, the vapidity of Spanish flattery, and matching your stockings to your doublet are interesting primarily as historical oddities. Rusnack’s contemporary translation is occasionally off-key (the word “loogie” doesn’t quite fit in with the work’s florid syntax), and the idea that this is for the “common reader” is a stretch. It is, however, perfectly suited for history buffs interested in the quotidian pressures of private lives. In addition to that, Della Casa’s tract can be praised for its aphoristic poetry: “Little expenses silently consume our wealth, [and] these small sins... stealthily undermine our distinguished and good behavior.” 4 halftones. (June)