INCUNABULA. - Giovanni BOCCACCIO. Explicit compendiu[m] Ioha[n]nis Boccacii de Certaldo. quod de preclaris mulieribus ac fama[m] p[er]petuam edidit feliciter [or De Mulieribus Claris]. [N.p. but Strasbourg: n.d. but circa 1474-1475, Polain dates no later than 1479.] Folio (290 x 203mm.) 165pp. of text printed in the Husner type with red initials and occasional red rules, two to six line spaces for capitals, with guide letters in nearly all cases, one leaf with ink marginalia depicting a hand pointing to the manuscript words 'Amoris preludia'. (Some spotting and browning, minor marginal damp-staining, one leaf torn with minor loss to margin.) Mid-19th century blue half-morocco, by White of Pall Mall dated 1850, the spine in six compartments with raised bands, lettered in the second, third and fourth compartments, the others blank (extremities scuffed). Note: title provided from the colophon, imprint from the ISTC, although an incorrect date is given on the binding. 'Concerning Famous Women' is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature. Provenance: Robert Milnes-Crewe (bookplate to front pastedown); The West Horsley Place Collection.