De Canaria et insulis reliquis ultra Ispaniam in Occeano noviter repertis is the Latin translation of a brief recollection of a journey written by Nicoloso da Recco, one of the leaders of the expedition that reached the Canary Islands in 1341. The exact date of the document is much debated. M. Pastore Stocchi believes it cannot be dated much later than 1341[1], and believes it to be have been written after Boccaccio’s return to Florence, refuting the traditional date that is 1353.

The narrative style of the De Canaria is very dry, with no concession to the exotic or the marvellous, instead conforming to a dry and succinct model of prose typical of merchant reports. Marin Sanudo il Vecchio’s Liber secretorum might be considered an antecedent, drawn up in 1321 for Pope John XXII, for the purpose of supplying a practical guide for future commercial and exploratory ventures. The testimony given in the Liber secretorum is without doubt used by Boccaccio in putting together the itineraries for the journeys contained in the Filocolo and is thus a point of reference above all for its geographical descriptions. In the prose of the De Canaria we find a scientific interest, which confirms Boccaccio’s interest for his Neapolitan studies and the notions he was taught by the astronomer Andalò del Negro and the mathematician Paolo dell’Abaco.

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[1]M. Pastore Stocchi, Introduction, in All the works of Giovanni Boccaccio, vol. V, tomo I, Milan Mondadori 1992, p. 968