AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

This course offers students knowledge on the process of movable type printing as well as its influences and interactions with the spread of culture and the availability of texts.  We will examine the main textual, bibliological and paratextual characteristics of the most important literary genres of Modernity and the Contemporary period by providing theoretical and cognitive parameters to evaluate publishing, including that of textbooks and children’s books. We will place a special focus on the use of hard-copy, catalog, online and digital native sources.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. General knowledge of  the historical events of the printed page from the 15th century to today in typographical, publishing, social and cultural terms, including the situation in Genoa
2. Knowledge about the physical and formal aspects of printing by hand with examples and historical references
3. Analyzing the advent of book printing and its effects on material and intellectual life specifically for Italy
4. A survey of the book as a historically determined cultural phenomenon. The book as a symbolic expression of the situation of the publisher or buyer seen through its physical structure, formal components, the materials it is made of, the graphic type and illustrations, the choice of texts to print.

TEACHING METHODS

In-class lectures

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

1. Introduction: The course: Aims, methods, sources, interpretations. Bibliographical terminology, the management of books, the book and its history: printing, publishing, society and culture. Historical periods, the origins of printing and its technical progress
2. The book at the dawn of printing, printing as a skill and trade, printing in Genoa, intellectuals and printing, cultural and social changes
3. Consequences of the spread of the printed page on cultural life: humanist printers, Manutius and the renaissance of classical antiquity; an example: 16th century editions of Nicomachean Ethics at the University of Genoa Library; the book and the development of the vernacular, Latin as the international language of scholars; books printed by hand: materials, structure, characters. A 16th century edition of Compendio del gran volume de l'arte del bene et leggiadramente scriuere tutte le sorti di lettere et caratteri by Giovanbattista Palatino.
4. The social and political history of the book up to the 18th century: bookselling, publishers and booksellers, readers; power and the book, censorship and freedom to print.
5. From books printed by hand to mechanization: the art of typography, illustrated books, Baskerville, Bodoni typefaces from tradition to innovation, The Industrial Revolution, the second edition of “Promessi sposi” from a typographical perspective
6. Books in the Contemporary period: Printing and the unification of Italy; Publishing in the united Italy, detailed historical textual analysis on the development of publishing; Anton Donath, publisher/bookseller in Genoa; typographical architecture, 20th century experimentation, the future.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

For attending students: materials to be covered on the final exam depend on the actual progress in the lessons. These may include:

1. Storia del libro : dall'antichità al 20. secolo / Frédéric Barbier ; postfazione di Mario Infelise. Bari : Dedalo, 2004. (p. 129-223, 243-249, 275-283, 311-388, 401-405, 444-508, 522-540).

2. Le rivoluzioni del libro : l'invenzione della stampa e la nascita dell'età moderna / Elizabeth L. Eisenstein. Bologna : Il mulino, 2011.

or

La nascita del libro / Lucien Febvre, Henri-Jean Martin ; ed. Armando Petrucci. - Roma ; Bari : GLF editori Laterza, 2011.

3. A book of the student’s choice on the history of Italian publishing after 1830.

The following volumes can serve as a guideline:

Storia degli editori italiani : dall'Unita alla fine degli anni Sessanta / Nicola Tranfaglia, Albertina Vittoria. Roma ; Bari : GLF editori Laterza, 2007.

Storia dell’editoria nell’Italia contemporanea / a cura di G. Turi, Firenze, Giunti, 1997

Storia dell'editoria italiana dall'Unità ad oggi : un profilo introduttivo / Alberto Cadioli, Giuliano Vigini. Milano : Bibliografica, 2012.

4. Saggi bibliografici / Emilio Bertocci. (Bibliographical materials are available in pdf format)

Or

For non-attenders, a book of the student’s choice

Non-attending students will prepare for the exam by studying the following texts:

1. Storia del libro : dall'antichità al 20. secolo / Frédéric Barbier ; postfazione di Mario Infelise. Bari : Dedalo, 2004. (p. 129-540).

2. Le rivoluzioni del libro : l'invenzione della stampa e la nascita dell'età moderna / Elizabeth L. Eisenstein. Bologna : Il mulino, 2011.

or

La nascita del libro / Lucien Febvre, Henri-Jean Martin ; ed. Armando Petrucci. - Roma ; Bari : GLF editori Laterza, 2011.

3. A book of the student’s choice on the history of Italian publishing after 1830.

The following volumes can serve as a guideline:

Storia degli editori italiani : dall'Unita alla fine degli anni Sessanta / Nicola Tranfaglia, Albertina Vittoria. Roma ; Bari : GLF editori Laterza, 2007.

Storia dell’editoria nell’Italia contemporanea / a cura di G. Turi, Firenze, Giunti, 1997

Storia dell'editoria italiana dall'Unità ad oggi : un profilo introduttivo / Alberto Cadioli, Giuliano Vigini. Milano : Bibliografica, 2012.

4. One of the following books:

Stampa e cultura in Europa tra 15. e 16. secolo / Lodovica Braida. - 10. ed. Roma ; Bari : GLF editori Laterza, 2014. ( or another edition)

I libri proibiti : da Gutenberg all'Encyclopédie / Mario Infelise. Roma ; Bari : GLF editori Laterza, 2013.

I padroni dei libri : il controllo sulla stampa nella prima età moderna / Mario Infelise. Roma ; Bari : Laterza, 2014.

Lettere prefatorie a edizioni greche / Aldo Manuzio ; a cura di Claudio Bevegni ; con un saggio introduttivo di Nigel Wilson. Milano : Adelphi, 2017.

Guida al libro antico : conoscere e descrivere il libro tipografico / Edoardo Barbieri ; premessa di Luigi Balsamo. Firenze : Le Monnier, 2006.

Libri, editori e pubblico nell'Europa moderna : guida storica e critica / a cura di Armando Petrucci. Roma ; Bari : Laterza, 1989.

Stampatori, autori e lettori nell'Italia del Rinascimento / Brian Richardson. - Milano : Sylvestre Bonnard, 2004.

Any other choice of book can be agreed upon with the instructor.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

EMILIO BERTOCCI (President)

ORIANA CARTAREGIA (President)

ROBERTO MARCUCCIO (President)

ANTONELLA ROVERE

LESSONS

Class schedule

HISTORY OF THE BOOK AND PUBLISHING I MODULE

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The final exam is an oral test of the student’s preparation according to the criteria listed below:

• Students may optionally produce a short piece of writing on the themes of the course.
• The final exam incorporates an oral part (Module I) and a written part (Module II) for a total of 12 cfu credits. The final mark is an average of the two. Students may also take only one module for 6 credits.
• For more information please write to the instructor at: emilio.bertocci@beniculturali.it

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The final exam is oral (knowledge of the content, discussion and reasoning of critical positions) and includes a written part on the history of a publishing house or a library, for example.

Class attendance is recommended. The final exam incorporates an oral part (Module I) and a written part (Module II). The final mark is an average of the two.

For more information please write to the instructor at: emilio.bertocci@beniculturali.it

Exam schedule