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Last updated 22/10/2026

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The version of Boccaccio's 'Decameron' referred to here is a translation into Flemish by Laurent de Premierfait said to be dateable to 1432. It contains an illustration showing a box from which four flaps of paper protrude.

A full copy of the work can be accessed online here.

As far as I know this picture was first drawn to the attention of the paperfolding world in a letter from Barbara Benson of Atlanta Georgia (aka Donna Serena de Riva) to David Lister, see here.

It seems to me that it is possible to interpret this picture in two ways:

1. That the box itself is not made of paper but, for instance, of wood, and that the four flaps are created by two sheets of paper laid crosswise to each other underneath the contents. This interpretation was suggested to me by Laura Rosenberg.

2. That the shorter set of flaps (bottom left and top right) are integral to the box, which is folded entirely of paper, and into which a second sheet of paper has been laid crosswise to create the second set of flaps.

The second interpretation would imply that a design similar to the Junk Box existed at this early date. I prefer the first interpretation on the basis that it provides a simpler explanation for the image.

There is no mention of the box in the text.

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