I racconti delle fate (1727): étude de la première traduction mondiale des Histoires ou contes du temps passé de Charles Perrault

It was long believed that the first translation in the world of Perrault’s Histoires ou contes du temps passé was the English edition of 1729. In fact, there is an Italian translation, published in Venice by the printer and bookseller Sebastiano Coleti, dating from 1727. Because of its extreme rarity (only two copies are known today), this anonymous translation remained unknown for a long time. An edition without bibliological value, as well as the process of relocating the fairy tale genre within children’s literature, were probably complicit in its concealment. This article is intended as a first critical contribution to this translation.