Women and the circulation of texts in Renaissance Italy /
Richardson, Brian(Brian F.),author.
"One of the most fertile developments in book history in recent years has been the study of the connections between books and the social contexts in which they originated and were used. This social turn is linked closely with the inaugural Panizzi lectures given in the British Library by Don McKenzie in 1985. In this landmark series, entitled 'Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts', McKenzie challenged a traditional view that bibliography is concerned only with signs written or printed on paper or vellum, and not with their meaning. Rather, he proposed, bibliography should comprehend 'not only the technical but the social processes' of the transmission of texts, 'the human motives and interactions which texts involve at every stage of their production, transmission, and consumption'. In short, it should take account of 'the role of human agents'"--
During the Italian Renaissance, laywomen and nuns could take part in every stage of the circulation of texts of many kinds, old and new, learned and popular. This first in-depth and integrated analysis of Italian women's involvement in the material textual culture of the period shows how they could publish their own works in manuscript and print and how they promoted the first publication of works composed by others, acting as patrons or dedicatees. It describes how they copied manuscripts and helped to make and sell printed books in collaboration with men, how they received books as gifts and borrowed or bought them, how they commissioned manuscripts for themselves and how they might listen to works in spoken or sung performance. Brian Richardson's richly documented study demonstrates the powerful social function of books in the Renaissance: texts-in-motion helped to shape women's lives and sustain their social and spiritual communities.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

"One of the most fertile developments in book history in recent years has been the study of the connections between books and the social contexts in which they originated and were used. This social turn is linked closely with the inaugural Panizzi lectures given in the British Library by Don McKenzie in 1985. In this landmark series, entitled 'Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts', McKenzie challenged a traditional view that bibliography is concerned only with signs written or printed on paper or vellum, and not with their meaning. Rather, he proposed, bibliography should comprehend 'not only the technical but the social processes' of the transmission of texts, 'the human motives and interactions which texts involve at every stage of their production, transmission, and consumption'. In short, it should take account of 'the role of human agents'"--
During the Italian Renaissance, laywomen and nuns could take part in every stage of the circulation of texts of many kinds, old and new, learned and popular. This first in-depth and integrated analysis of Italian women's involvement in the material textual culture of the period shows how they could publish their own works in manuscript and print and how they promoted the first publication of works composed by others, acting as patrons or dedicatees. It describes how they copied manuscripts and helped to make and sell printed books in collaboration with men, how they received books as gifts and borrowed or bought them, how they commissioned manuscripts for themselves and how they might listen to works in spoken or sung performance. Brian Richardson's richly documented study demonstrates the powerful social function of books in the Renaissance: texts-in-motion helped to shape women's lives and sustain their social and spiritual communities.
Women in the book industries and trade
Women
Transmission of texts
Women