le-plus-beau-des-mensonges:Giambattista Basile (1566 – 1632) was an Italian poet, courtier,
le-plus-beau-des-mensonges: Giambattista Basile (1566 – 1632) was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector. He is chiefly remembered for writing the collection of Neapolitan fairy tales titled Lo cunto de li cunti overo lo trattenemiento de peccerille (Neapolitan for “The Tale of Tales, or Entertainment for Little Ones”), also known as Il Pentamerone, published posthumously in Naples in 1634 and 1636 under the pseudonym Gian Alesio Abbatutis. Although neglected for some time, the work received a great deal of attention after the Brothers Grimm praised it highly as the first national collection of fairy tales. Many of these fairy tales are the oldest known variants in existence. They include the earliest known versions of “Rapunzel” and “Cinderella” -- source link