Il commercio librario a Bologna tra XV e XVI secolo

Fifteenth-century Bologna is one of the major Italian cities, home to a prestigious university and a thriving industrial and economic center; in these conditions, ideal for the development of the nascent typographic art, the market of the manuscript book, and its world of copyists, illuminators, bookbinders, stationarii, soon adapts to the new form of production, favoring the emergence of some great families of booksellers-printers-publishers. Already in the early decades of the sixteenth century, however, the increasingly overwhelming presence of foreign book production became evident: important printers such as Vincenzo Valgrisi and Gabriele Giolito established branches in the city, while the Lyonese publishing house of the Giunti was establishing itself in the legal book sector.

The situation changes again in the second half of the century, when the market reshapes itself following the conditioning operated by the ecclesiastical authorities and spreads to social strata previously excluded from cultural consumption. The work, based on a detailed investigation of documentary sources, reconstructs for the first time a social history of the Bolognese book trade, outlining the events of families and shops operating in the city, but also opening the gaze to relations with large foreign firms (Source : FrancoAngeli).

 Institutional greetings

Giovanna Giubbini, director of the State Archive of Bologna

Speakers

Massimo Giansante, State Archive of Bologna

Paolo Tinti, University of Bologna

The Author will be present