Book Trade in the Italian Renaissance

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.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionCommercial networksChapter 1: The Commercial Network of The Company of VeniceJohannes de Colonia and Nicolaus Jenson Peter Ugelheimer, The Creator of the Commercial NetworkThe Transfer of the Network to Ugolino di Fabriano and Giovan Pietro BonominiA Transfer of Control in PerugiaThe Network Ceded to Gerhard LofA Transfer of Control in SienaGiovan Pietro Bonomini: From Tuscany to Portugal Chapter 2: The Development of Commercial NetworksThe Giunti1. The First Generation2. The Second Generation3. The Third Generation4. The Giunti in Rome The Gabiano Family1. Giovanni Bartolomeo da GabianoOther Booksellers’ Commercial Networks1. Bernardino Stagnino2. Giovanni Giolito de’ Ferrari3. The Sessa Family4. The Varisco FamilyJuridical Relations Among Wholesalers and Retailers1. The Practice of Sales on Commission in the Book Trade2. The Sale or Return Contract3. Other Types of Relations Between Wholesalers and RetailersProductionChapter 3: Press RunsPress Runs Inferred from the Zornale of Francesco de’ Madi (1484-1488) Geographical and Historical OscillationsPress Runs in the CinquecentoChapter 4: WarehousesThe Market: From Local to TransnationalThe Growth of Warehouses: The Warehouse of Sigismondo dei Libri (1484)The Warehouse of Platone de’ Benedetti (1497)The Warehouse of Niccolò Gorgonzola (1537)Book Warehouses in the CinquecentoBook Warehouses and Paper SuppliesChapter 5: Marks and BranchesMarks1. Marks in Printed Books2. Contention Over Marks3. The History of an Emblematic Mark: The Giolito Phoenix4. Non-Commercial Marks on Printed BooksBranches1. The System of Branches2. The Transnational System of Branches3. The Gabiano Family in Lyon4. The Manuzio Firm in Paris5. The Branch System in Italy6. The Giolito Branch OrganizationThe Giolito Branch in Naples (1545)The Giolito Branch in Rome (1582?)7. Branches and Marks 8. Branches and the Diffusion of Publishing Initiatives9. Foreign Branches in Italy?Chapter 6: The Book Privilege SystemThe Institution of the PrivilegeBook PrivilegesLiterary PrivilegesVenetian Legislation Regarding Printing (Up to 1540)Venetian Legislation Regarding Printing (1540s to 1603)Applying for a Privilege Notification and Display of Privileges The Privileged PrinterPre-publication Censorship and Licencing Book Privileges in Rome The Great Venetian Bookmen and Papal PrivilegesSelling and Distribution Chapter 7: DistributionDistribution among University Cities: Cultural Contacts and Fiscal ExemptionsDistribution from VeniceMiddlemenChapter 8: FairsItalian Bookmen at the Frankfurt FairPietro Perna (d. 1582)Pietro Longo (d. 1588)Giovan Battista Ciotti (d. after 1625)Italian Books at the Frankfurt FairItalian FairsVenice, a Permanent Book FairBook Fairs in ItalyThe Fairs of Recanati and FolignoThe Fair of LancianoA Bookseller at the Fairs: Bernardo d’Asola, Agent of the Gabiano Firm (1522)Chapter 9: Retail Sales: Distribution Inside and Outside of Bookshops Cartolai and Peddlers in the Diario of the Ripoli Press (1476-1484)Cheap Print Sales Outside of BookshopsThe Sale of Books in Cartolai’s ShopsShop Sales: The Zornale of Francesco de’ Madi (1484-1488)The Price of BooksChapter 10: Shop InventoriesThe Characteristics of Shop InventoriesInventories of the 1470s and 1480sInventories of the 1490sEarly Sixteenth-Century InventoriesInventories in the University Cities: Giunti in Perugia; Giolito in Turin and Pavia Bookshop Inventories after 1550 FerraraRomeVeronaVeniceVicenzaCremonaMilanTable: Editions and Copies in BookshopsChapter 11: Managing a BookstoreInternal ViewsInside the Shops: The Placement and Arrangement of BooksBound Books, Used BooksBuying and Selling a BookshopMen of Letters and the BookshopEpilogueBibliographyIndex

“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-Jörg Künast, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. In: Archiv für Geschichte des Buchwesens, Bd. 69 (2014), S. 254-257."Dieser Titel kann als einführender Überblick unter anderem auch wegen anders gestalteter Tabellen als eine ausgezeichnete Ergänzung zu dem äußerst interessanten, hier vorgestellten Werk nur empfohlen werden."Alfred Noe, Universität Wien. In: Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, Bd. 122 (2014), S. 508-509."Nuovos Buch war schon in der italienischen Fassung ein wichtiger Referenzpunkt für Studien zum frühen italienischen Buchdruck. Die erweiterte Übersetzung macht gerade in ihren Detailstudien die Verbindung von Humanismus, Druckwesen und wirtschaftlicher Entwicklung in vielen Details sichtbar. Sie erschließt die umfangreiche italienische Buchforschung und eröffnet dieser den Weg zu einer stärkeren internationalen Wahrnehmung. Bibliotheken benötigen die englische Fassung neben der italienischen; auch Forscher sollten sie haben."Anja Wolkenhauer, Universität Tübingen. In: Wolfenbütteler Renaissance-Mitteilungen, Bd. 34, No. 2 (2012/2013), S. 264-266.‘’Il volume è di fatto il saggio più 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 può 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.‘’È il quadro di tutte le possibili sfaccettature che possono essere analizzate nell’ambito di un singolo argomento di studio (il commercio librario) e l’abilità di incorniciarlo all’interno di un’epoca profondamente conosciuta dall’autrice: questo è ciò che colpisce, oggi più 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.