Overview

This work offers the first English-language survey of the book industry in Renaissance Italy. Whereas traditional accounts of the book in the Renaissance celebrate authors and literary achievement, this study examines the nuts and bolts of a rapidly expanding trade that built on existing economic practices while developing new mechanisms in response to political and religious realities. Approaching the book trade from the perspective of its publishers and booksellers, this archive-based account ranges across family ambitions and warehouse fires to publishers' petitions and convivial bookshop conversation. In the process it constructs a nuanced picture of trading networks, production, and the distribution and sale of printed books, a profitable but capricious commodity. Originally published in Italian as Il commercio librario nell'Italia del Rinascimento (Milan: Franco Angeli, 1998; second, revised ed., 2003), this present English translation has not only been updated but has also been deeply revised and augmented.

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Reviews

The author has provided easily the best and fullest account of her subject, an account based firmly on both archives and books. They are welcome foundations not just for Italy, but for much of the European trade. David McKitterick, University of Cambridge. In: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Summer 2014), pp. 674-676. Angela Nuovo is the authority on the Italian book trade. ... [She] has provided us with a new, definite guide to the large and expansive literature on the book trade in Italy. ... Nuovo's book is essential reading, both for presenting original research and for describing in English a long Italian tradition of scholarship. Paul Gehl, The Newberry Library. In: The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, Vol. 109, No. 2 (June 2015), pp. 270-272. The first full-length study of the book business in Renaissance Italy to appear in English, Nuovo's book now figures as the standard reference work in the field in any language. Antonio Ricci, York University, Toronto. In: SHARP News, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Autum 2014), pp. 16-17. The Book Trade is an excellent resource. [Nuovo] has produced both a reference book of clearly sorted and articulated information and a grand story using that information. Joseph P. Byrne, Belmont University. In: Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 45, No. 2 (2014), pp. 429-430. The Book Trade in the Italian Renaissance is the first English-language monograph to offer a thorough overview of the book industry in Renaissance Italy. The volume explores the formation of commercial networks, the challenges of producing, warehousing and selling books, the role of book fairs, distribution systems, juridical aspects of the book trade, and the role of the bookshop as a new space of cultural exchange. Bryan Brazeau, New York University. In: The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies, Vol. 75 (2013), p. 311. A rich source of knowledge about the book trade, not only in Italy, but also in general. It will undoubtedly remain a standard work of reference in the field for a long time. Christian Coppens, Leuven University. In: De Gulden Passer, Vol. 92, pp. 227-229. Eine gelungene Gesamtdarstellung des Buchhandels in Italien im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert. Hans-Joerg Kunast, Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg. In: Archiv fur Geschichte des Buchwesens, Bd. 69 (2014), S. 254-257. Dieser Titel kann als einfuhrender UEberblick unter anderem auch wegen anders gestalteter Tabellen als eine ausgezeichnete Erganzung zu dem ausserst interessanten, hier vorgestellten Werk nur empfohlen werden. Alfred Noe, Universitat Wien. In: Mitteilungen des Instituts fur OEsterreichische Geschichtsforschung, Bd. 122 (2014), S. 508-509. Nuovos Buch war schon in der italienischen Fassung ein wichtiger Referenzpunkt fur Studien zum fruhen italienischen Buchdruck. Die erweiterte UEbersetzung macht gerade in ihren Detailstudien die Verbindung von Humanismus, Druckwesen und wirtschaftlicher Entwicklung in vielen Details sichtbar. Sie erschliesst die umfangreiche italienische Buchforschung und eroeffnet dieser den Weg zu einer starkeren internationalen Wahrnehmung. Bibliotheken benoetigen die englische Fassung neben der italienischen; auch Forscher sollten sie haben. Anja Wolkenhauer, Universitat Tubingen. In: Wolfenbutteler Renaissance-Mitteilungen, Bd. 34, No. 2 (2012/2013), S. 264-266. `'Il volume e di fatto il saggio piu completo ed esaustivo sul tema delcommercio librario italiano tra Quattro e Cinquecento, che in questa nuova versione trova un eccellente perno di analisi negli aspetti giuridici legati al mercato dei libri. Senza esagerare si puo ben dire di trovarsi di fronte a un vero e proprio modello di studio da seguirein tutti i lavori di storia del commercio librario. A corredo del volume una nutrita serie di indici, utilissimi strumenti per navigare in quest'opera di valore eccezionale.'' Natale Vacalebre, University of Udine. In: Bibliotechae.it. `'E il quadro di tutte le possibili sfaccettature che possono essere analizzate nell'ambito di un singolo argomento di studio (il commercio librario) e l'abilita di incorniciarlo all'interno di un'epoca profondamente conosciuta dall'autrice: questo e cio che colpisce, oggi piu che quindici anni fa, nel lavoro di Angela Nuovo. Nella trattazione [...] non viene tralasciato nulla che non abbia rilevanza centrale per la storia del commercio librario.'' Lorenzo Mancini, Istituto di linguistica computazionale Antonio Zampolli''- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. In: Nuovi Annali della Scuola Speciale per Archivisti e Bibliotecari, 28, 2014, pp. 263-4.

The author has provided easily the best and fullest account of her subject, an account based firmly on both archives and books. They are welcome foundations not just for Italy, but for much of the European trade. David McKitterick, University of Cambridge. In: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Summer 2014), pp. 674-676. Angela Nuovo is the authority on the Italian book trade. ... [She] has provided us with a new, definite guide to the large and expansive literature on the book trade in Italy. ... Nuovo's book is essential reading, both for presenting original research and for describing in English a long Italian tradition of scholarship. Paul Gehl, The Newberry Library. In: The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, Vol. 109, No. 2 (June 2015), pp. 270-272. The first full-length study of the book business in Renaissance Italy to appear in English, Nuovo's book now figures as the standard reference work in the field in any language. Antonio Ricci, York University, Toronto. In: SHARP News, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Autum 2014), pp. 16-17. The Book Trade is an excellent resource. [Nuovo] has produced both a reference book of clearly sorted and articulated information and a grand story using that information. Joseph P. Byrne, Belmont University. In: Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 45, No. 2 (2014), pp. 429-430. The Book Trade in the Italian Renaissance is the first English-language monograph to offer a thorough overview of the book industry in Renaissance Italy. The volume explores the formation of commercial networks, the challenges of producing, warehousing and selling books, the role of book fairs, distribution systems, juridical aspects of the book trade, and the role of the bookshop as a new space of cultural exchange. Bryan Brazeau, New York University. In: The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies, Vol. 75 (2013), p. 311. A rich source of knowledge about the book trade, not only in Italy, but also in general. It will undoubtedly remain a standard work of reference in the field for a long time. Christian Coppens, Leuven University. In: De Gulden Passer, Vol. 92, pp. 227-229. Eine gelungene Gesamtdarstellung des Buchhandels in Italien im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert. Hans-Jorg Kunast, Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg. In: Archiv fur Geschichte des Buchwesens, Bd. 69 (2014), S. 254-257. Dieser Titel kann als einfuhrender Uberblick unter anderem auch wegen anders gestalteter Tabellen als eine ausgezeichnete Erganzung zu dem ausserst interessanten, hier vorgestellten Werk nur empfohlen werden. Alfred Noe, Universitat Wien. In: Mitteilungen des Instituts fur Osterreichische Geschichtsforschung, Bd. 122 (2014), S. 508-509. Nuovos Buch war schon in der italienischen Fassung ein wichtiger Referenzpunkt fur Studien zum fruhen italienischen Buchdruck. Die erweiterte Ubersetzung macht gerade in ihren Detailstudien die Verbindung von Humanismus, Druckwesen und wirtschaftlicher Entwicklung in vielen Details sichtbar. Sie erschliesst die umfangreiche italienische Buchforschung und eroffnet dieser den Weg zu einer starkeren internationalen Wahrnehmung. Bibliotheken benotigen die englische Fassung neben der italienischen; auch Forscher sollten sie haben. Anja Wolkenhauer, Universitat Tubingen. In: Wolfenbutteler Renaissance-Mitteilungen, Bd. 34, No. 2 (2012/2013), S. 264-266. Il volume e di fatto il saggio piu completo ed esaustivo sul tema delcommercio librario italiano tra Quattro e Cinquecento, che in questa nuova versione trova un eccellente perno di analisi negli aspetti giuridici legati al mercato dei libri. Senza esagerare si puo ben dire di trovarsi di fronte a un vero e proprio modello di studio da seguirein tutti i lavori di storia del commercio librario. A corredo del volume una nutrita serie di indici, utilissimi strumenti per navigare in quest'opera di valore eccezionale. Natale Vacalebre, University of Udine. In: Bibliotechae.it. E il quadro di tutte le possibili sfaccettature che possono essere analizzate nell'ambito di un singolo argomento di studio (il commercio librario) e l'abilita di incorniciarlo all'interno di un'epoca profondamente conosciuta dall'autrice: questo e cio che colpisce, oggi piu che quindici anni fa, nel lavoro di Angela Nuovo. Nella trattazione [...] non viene tralasciato nulla che non abbia rilevanza centrale per la storia del commercio librario. Lorenzo Mancini, Istituto di linguistica computazionale Antonio Zampolli - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. In: Nuovi Annali della Scuola Speciale per Archivisti e Bibliotecari, 28, 2014, pp. 263-4.

Author Information

Angela Nuovo is Professor of the History of the Book at the University of Udine in Italy. She has published extensively on the book trade and private libraries in Italy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

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