The matter of whether the document known as the “epistola napoletana” or Neapolitan letter is authentic or not has long been debated. This is one of the first cases of literature in dialect, a forerunner of the linguistic expressionism of the Decameron.  

In the letter, addressed to Franceschino dei Bardi, who belonged to that famous commercial company and lived in Gaeta, the writer informs the recipient that he has become the father of a boy, born in Naples of his mistress Machinti.

The tale of the baptism  is told in colourful Neapolitan dialect, and many are the names (or rather jocose pseudonyms) recalled, in the list of those who come to celebrate the new arrival.

One who does not take part in the general euphoria is “abbate Ja’ Bocaccio, como sai tu, e nin juorno, ni notte perzì, fa schitto ca scribere”[1]. And this is a strange case of double personality, as the letter is signed with the pseudonym Jannetta di Parisse (Giannetto from Paris), indeed Giovanni presents himself as a cleric intent upon his studies, in medidative isolation as compared to the joyous Neapolitan context.

The long piece in Neapolitan dialect is introduced by a preamble in the vernacular,  in which Boccaccio explains that even the most committed of men need to let off steam at times with some “onesto diletto” or honest form of entertainment, as did the ancient sages, among them Socrates. This preface could be read to be some sort of hint as to what follows in the part in dialect, that could thus be interpreted as a piece of good humoured wit.

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[1]The complete text of the letter and its translation in F. Sabatini,  Lingue e letterature volgari in competizione, in Storia e civiltà della Campania. Il medioevo, ed. G. Pugliese Caratelli, Naples 1992, pp. 401-431