Facetiae

The Facetiae is an anthology of jokes and short tales by Poggio Bracciolini (1380–1459), first published in 1470. It is considered the first printed joke book and is regarded as the most famous jokebook of the Renaissance.

The collection is notable for its scatological jokes and tales, including six stories about flatulence and six about defecation. One example is the final tale on farting, in which a wife, watching a ram mount a sheep, asks how the ram chooses his mate; her husband answers that the ram picks the sheep that farts. After she farts, they make love, and when she farts a third time, he tells her he will not make love to her again even if she shits out her soul.

The work enjoyed wide circulation. Twenty fifteenth-century editions are recorded, printed in Rome, Venice, Ferrara and elsewhere, and the earliest printings are rare and not yet catalogued in an organized way as is usual for incunabula.