François de Belleforest
François de Belleforest (1530 – 1 January 1583) was a prolific French author, poet and translator of the Renaissance.He was born in Samatan (actual department of Gers), into a poor family, and his father (a soldier) was killed when he was seven. He spent some time in the court of Marguerite of Navarre, traveled to Toulouse and Bordeaux (where he met George Buchanan), and then to Paris where he came into contact with members of the young literary generation, including Pierre de Ronsard, Jean Antoine de Baïf, Jean Dorat, Remy Belleau, Antoine Du Verdier and Odet de Turnèbe. In 1568 he became historiographer to the king. He died in Paris.
Belleforest wrote on cosmography, morals, literature and history, and he translated the works of Matteo Bandello, Boccaccio, Antonio de Guevara, Lodovico Guicciardini, Polydore Vergil, Saint Cyprian, Sebastian Münster, Achilles Tatius, Cicero and Demosthenes into French. He is also the author of the first French pastoral novel, ''La Pyrénée'' (or ''La Pastorale amoureuse'') (1571) modeled on the ''Diana'' of Jorge de Montemayor. His ''Grandes Annales'' are a polemic tract against François Hotman. His total output comprises more than 50 volumes.
His most successful work was most likely his translation and adaptation of the "histoires tragiques" by the Italian Matteo Bandello, which built on the work of Pierre Boaistuau and eventually amounted to seven volumes (1564–1582). One of these tales might be the source for Shakespeare's Hamlet. Provided by Wikipedia
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1by Belleforest, François de, 1530-1583
Published 1570Paris, G. Mallot, 1570.18 p. l., 317 numb. l., 13 l. 24 cm. -
2by Belleforest, François de, 1530-1583
Published 1568Paris, impr. par F. Le Blanc pour P. L'Huillier, 1568.5 p.l., 684, [38] p. -
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4by Belleforest, François de, 1530-1583
Published 1569Paris, I. Hulpeau, 1569.1 v. (various pagings) -
5by Belleforest, François de, 1530-1583
Published 1571[Paris] G. Mallot, 1571.1 v. (various pagings) -
6by Münster, Sebastian, 1489-1552
Published 1575Paris, Chez M. Sonnius, 1575.2 volumes in 3. illustrations, 2 plates, 5 maps, 9 plans 36 x 23 cm.Other Authors: “...Belleforest, François de, 1530-1583...”
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7by Bandello, Matteo, 1485-1561
Published 1567Anvers, J. Waesberghe, 1567.297 leaves [i.e. 596 p.], [5] p.Other Authors: “...Belleforest, François de, 1530-1583...”
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8Published 1572[n.p. impr. 1572.[200] l.Other Authors: “...Belleforest, François de, 1530-1583...”
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9by Boaistuau, Pierre, d. 1566
Published 1598Paris, La vefue de Gabriel Buon, 1598.[24], 1282 (i.e. 1272) p. illus. 14 cm.Other Authors: “...Belleforest, François de, 1530-1583...”