Journal articles by Anna Gialdini
Historical Journal, 2021
Bookbinders are still among the least known of the professions of the early modern Italian book t... more Bookbinders are still among the least known of the professions of the early modern Italian book trade, partly because they rarely signed their work. However, they had an undeniably fundamental role in the production and circulation of books (both manuscript and printed) across Italy, and especially in Venice, where the book trade was a particularly lively industry. In recent years, there has been a strong interest in early modern material culture but little attention has been paid to bookbinders, who quite literally shaped the materiality of books. This article looks at the scarcity of documentary sources on Venetian bookbinders between 1450 and 1630 both as a methodological challenge and as evidence of their role in local production and consumption of books. It explores both the lack of sources documenting the professional lives of binders, and sources traditionally underused in book history, to highlight the social lives of binders. Evidence of binders’ family finances, marriages, and social and geographical mobilities is used to identify their lower social standing in the early modern Venetian book world in comparison to booksellers, the overlapping of their professional roles, and the locations of binders’ workshops in the topography of the city.
The Paper Trade in Early Modern Europe: Practices, Materials, Networks (edited by Daniel Bellingradt and Anna Reynolds), 2021
Mélanges de l’École française de Rome - Moyen Âge (MEFRM), 2019
Over the course of the fifteenth century, the Kingdom of Sicily faced significant institutional a... more Over the course of the fifteenth century, the Kingdom of Sicily faced significant institutional and administrative changes, originating from the need, on the part of the Aragonese sovereigns, to rule the island from afar. These developments resulted not only in the establishment of a new financial office (the conservator regii patrimonii), but also in innovations in the methods used for producing and recording documents, which in turn are reflected in the structures of the archival bindings and other material features that survive to this day. Through the analysis of material elements from the mise en page of the documents to their temporary filing systems and binding structures, this article focuses on the relationship between text and paratext in late-medieval Sicily, and casts light upon the carefully-crafted material forms of the document throughout its lifespan. In short, the Sicilian case study demonstrates how apparently mere material aspects played a crucial role for the government of a trans-Mediterranean monarchy such as the Crown of Aragon, as they allowed its kings – and their bureaucratic staff – to classify, organize, and use a growing amount of information in a way that fulfilled their administrative needs..
![Research paper thumbnail of A. Gialdini – A.D. McLaughlin, “A Fragmented History: An Unpublished Letter to Reginald Pole in an Ambrosiana Aldine (INC. 372/1),” La Bibliofilia 118/1, 2016, 31-43 [PDF available upon request]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/46995987/thumbnails/1.jpg)
This article presents a fragment of a letter addressed to Cardinal Reginald Pole that was used a ... more This article presents a fragment of a letter addressed to Cardinal Reginald Pole that was used a a bookmark in a copy of the third volume of the Aldine Aristotle (Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Ambr. INC. 372/1). The author, Stephen Gardiner, future Bishop of Winchester, is identified by comparing the letter from a palaeographical perspective and throught the content of the letter. The letter was sent during a diplomatic mission to pope Clement VII (Winter 1529).
The history and materiality of the volume, which was acquired by the Bibilioteca Ambrosiana with the library of Cesare Rovida, are likewise considered. Finally, the possibility is discussed that the fragment indicates the book once belonged to Reginald Pole himself.
L’articolo presenta un frammento inedito di una lettera indirizzata a Reginald Pole, utilizzato come segnalibro all’interno di una copia del terzo volume dell’edizione Aldina di Aristotele, conservata presso la Biblioteca Ambrosiana: Ambr. INC. 372/1. Tramite confronto paleografico e analisi del contenuto, se ne ricostruiscono l’autore, Stephen Gardiner, che divenne in seguito vescovo di Winchester, e le circostanze di redazione, vale a dire la missione diplomatica presso papa Clemente VII dell’inverno 1529. Si analizza inoltre anche nei suoi aspetti materiali la storia del volume, entrato a far parte dell’Ambrosiana con l’acquisto della biblioteca di Cesare Rovida. Alla luce degli elementi forniti dal f rammento, viene presentata la possibilità che abbia fatto parte della collezione libraria dello stesso Pole.
[PDF available upon request]
This article considers a group of six Greek manuscripts that entere... more [PDF available upon request]
This article considers a group of six Greek manuscripts that entered the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan with the collection of Gian Vincenzo Pinelli. It examines their hybrid Greek-style bindings as a telling case-study in the intellectual and cultural history of late sixteenth-century Europe. Through the analysis of the complex history of the individual items, it is possible to argue that Pinelli himself commissioned the bindings, and to challenge the widely held opinion that he had no interest in how his books were bound. Finally, it considers how Pinelli, as a bibliophile and scholar, chose to have these manuscripts bound in expensive materials but decorated very soberly, ultimately creating a powerful tool of self-fashioning in opposition to the cultural trends of his time.
The importance of the Quaestiones ad Antiochum ducem (CPG 2257), a most fascinating collection of... more The importance of the Quaestiones ad Antiochum ducem (CPG 2257), a most fascinating collection of questions and answers discussing the position of Christianity with regard to Hellenism and Paganism, can hardly be overestimated. Not only did it come down to us in 248 Greek copies dating from the tenth to the nineteenth century, but it was also translated into Arabic, Armenian, Church Slavonic, Ethiopic, Georgian, and Latin. Although explicitly attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria by the absolute majority of these witnesses, in all probability it was written during the seventh or early eighth century. In this paper, we consider a truly unique witness of the Quaestiones ad Antiochum ducem, viz. the seventeenth-century Matritensis 4552. This is the only known copy, which carries both the Greek text and a Latin translation, redacted side-by-side possibly by two different scribes. In addition to being the sole manuscript containing a nearly complete Latin translation of the Quaestiones ad Antiochum ducem, the Matritensis 4552 showcases individual peculiarities such as a conscious selection of questions and answers and a tendency not to accept the text unquestioningly. Both traits indicate a deliberate choice in content. Moreover, the Ps. Athanasian quaestiones are continuously preceded and followed by (excerpts from) other theological texts, such as the Quaestiones et responsiones by Anastasius of Sinai (CPG 7746). By analysing both textual and material evidence drawn from the Matritensis 4552, such as its mise en page and mise en texte, we shed light upon the production of the manuscript itself, its purpose and its later use in Spain in the context of contemporary theological debates, and, finally, its role within the complex tradition of the Quaestiones ad Antiochum ducem.
Miscellanea Graecolatina II, eds. F. Gallo and L. Benedetti, Bulzoni: Milan-Rome, 2014, 2014
In the span of his short life, Michael Sophianos (Chios, ca. 1530 - Ferrara, 1565) assembled an i... more In the span of his short life, Michael Sophianos (Chios, ca. 1530 - Ferrara, 1565) assembled an impressive collection of manuscripts and printed books, a part of which went lost after his death. Michael's Greek manuscripts were purchased as an almost undivided lot by Card. Federico Borromeo for the Ambrosiana Library. This paper presents some hitherto unconsidered material, including a letter by Antonio Salmazia from Corfu mentioning the Sophianos Greek manuscript library, and a list of expenses for the Ambrosiana Library, clearly stating that Stephanos Maurogordatos (a relative of Michael's) received 600 lire “for some books” in 1607. The latter allows to give a more precise date for the arrival of the Sophianos collection in Milan, generally placed in 1606 so far. Moreover, descriptions of all manuscripts owned by Michael Sophianos (Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Bibliothèque Nationale Française) are provided, complete with an updated literature section; a second group of manuscripts, now kept in Munich and Vienna, also listed with descriptions, features books Michael worked on as a reviewer and copies of his own manuscripts.
Exhibition catalogues by Anna Gialdini
This exhibition tells the story, through 40 examples, of the ways in which texts from different l... more This exhibition tells the story, through 40 examples, of the ways in which texts from different languages, cultures and religious tradi-tions have been preserved, right up to today’s digital mechanisms. Seen from this perspective, the ‘history of binding’ becomes the history of different cultures and societies, showing ways in which what we call the ‘book-object’ has been transformed through time, while re-maining a specific apparatus suitable for transcribing, preserving, transmitting and reading texts. The book-objects (in whatever form they take) are indispensable tools for accessing book-texts.
Sì, carta! Catalogo della mostra (novembre 2013-febbraio 2014, Milano, Archivio di Stato), 2013
Selected conference papers by Anna Gialdini
The Venetian Seminar is a peripatetic one-day workshop with a long tradition of participation by ... more The Venetian Seminar is a peripatetic one-day workshop with a long tradition of participation by scholars of history, art history, literature and linguistics who study Venice and Italy. It is convened on a yearly basis by Alex Bamji (Leeds), Filippo de Vivo (Birkbeck), and Mary Laven (Cambridge). The Seminar brings together established scholars, early career researchers, and postgraduate students in a format designed to promote awareness of the latest research in the field, and to maximise discussion. We are very grateful to David Laven and the University of Nottingham, for hosting this year's seminar. There is no registration fee, but numbers are limited due to the size of the venue. Please email [email protected] to reserve a space.
![Research paper thumbnail of Producing and Consuming Greek Books in Renaissance Italy and France: A Comparative Analysis of Collecting Practices and Cultural Identities [Eighth International Graduate Student Conference in Modern Greek Studies, Princeton University, 6 May 2016]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/45256781/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Following the fall of Constantinople, the renewal of Greek studies in Western Europe led scholars... more Following the fall of Constantinople, the renewal of Greek studies in Western Europe led scholars to seek out texts, both manuscript and printed. Many Greek manuscripts came to the West in Greek-style bookbindings, which soon started being imitated, sometimes very closely, sometimes loosely, in Venice, Rome, and France. This paper will look at scholarly and technical practices related to the production and consumption of Greek books in Renaissance Europe, from the unique perspective offered by the craft of bookbindings.
The material culture of the collecting of Greek books in Europe was permeated with cultural and political subtexts. Many bibliophiles had volumes bound in the Greek style simply because of the refined elegance and luxury they emanated. In Venice and France, however, the patrician élite and the royals actively researched such objects also for the message they conveyed, namely that the Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of France were the cultural heirs to the throne of Byzantium, unjustly held by the Ottoman Sultan. Cultural motives were thus employed to reinforce claims originally made on an economic and political basis. This paper will offer a comparative analysis of two case studies. Firstly, a group of bookbindings made at the expense of young Venetian patricians in the 1510s at the request of their teacher, the Greek Marcus Musurus; and secondly, the hellenised material culture and the production of Greek-style bindings in France.
These case studies clearly illustrate how differences in material aspects, such as structures and materials, mirror different approaches, despite serving similar functions. The Greek-style bindings made for the “Eupatrides”, as Musurus called his students, were fairly close to their Byzantine models both in techniques and decorative practices, which was common in Venice. The dedications inscribed by Musurus on the endleaves in an elegant Attic prose praised the Eupatrides as models of virtues esteemed by Classical Greek and Early Modern Venetian cultures alike. On the other hand, Charles VIII was depicted in “Byzantine accoutrements” around the same time as a prophecy circulated announcing the coming of one Charles, son of a father by the same name, who would subjugate continental Europe and become King of the Greeks. In 1519 Francis I founded a collège for Greek students in Milan, and in 1540 Etienne Roffet, the relieur du roi, started producing Greek-style bindings. The hundreds of Greek-style bookbindings produced in Paris and Fontainebleau, which were initially very genuine in their structures, soon began to diverge from their models to adopt French techniques and decorative languages. Books in Latin and the vernacular were also bound in this hybrid style.
In this paper, I will adopt a comparative approach to delineate points of contact and divergences between these two historical narratives. By looking at material culture and collecting practices in the context of wider cultural and intellectual frameworks, I hope to demonstrate that they expressed historical narratives of translatio imperii, which were looked favorably upon, or actively enacted by, the ruling class.
![Research paper thumbnail of Bookbinders of Venice, 1450-1630: Social History of an 'Invisible' Professional Body [Social History Society Conference, Lancaster, March 2016]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/41661464/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Intricacies of Early Modern Venice: Invisible, Secret, and Disguised
Chair: Dr Filippo De Vivo, ... more Intricacies of Early Modern Venice: Invisible, Secret, and Disguised
Chair: Dr Filippo De Vivo, Birkbeck University of London
Speakers: Anna Gialdini, University of the Arts London; Jola Pellumbi, King's College London; Dr Ioanna Iordanou, Oxford Brookes University
Papers:
Bookbinders of Venice, 1450-1630: Social History of an 'Invisible' Professional Body
The Renaissance book trade in Italy, and in Venice in particular, has been a very popular field of enquiry for well over a century; today, it continues to gather the attention of scholars working on production, consumption, and circulation of early modern books. One professional body, however, has been insofar mostly neglected, even after the so-called 'material turn' and a shift of focus towards the materiality of ancient books: that of bookbinders. This gap in the social history of the Venetian book is easily explained with the difficulties inherent to the investigation of individuals that seem to be 'invisible' in primary sources: their supposedly low social status, the lack of a specific corporation, and an active attempt to limit their interaction with customers on the part of booksellers.
This paper will present a social history of the bookbinders of Venice from the coming of typography to the early seventeenth century. Drawing on research carried out in the State Archive of Venice that yielded documents concerning almost one hundred bookbinders, this paper presents a varied scenario, spanning from lowly stationers to refined artists with a clear and deliberate agency in their work. It will show how bookbinders interacted with patrons, booksellers, and the Venetian authorities, discuss the urban geography of the trade, and consider the strategies put in place by binders to counteract the higher degree of exposure to customers from which other book dealers benefited.
Enterprising Secrets and Spies in Early Modern Venice: The Social Construction of Collective Identity
Information exchange is a historical phenomenon that spans from the ancient Athenian messengers, to the Enlightenment coffeehouse patrons, and contemporary whistle-blowers. These manifestations of information exchange are built on similar incentives; people’s need to know, to belong, and to make a difference. But there was one state that was so business-savvy, that turned information exchange and, ultimately, intelligence and espionage, into an enterprising business. It did so by engaging its subjects in a lucrative trade of information between the government and the governed. This state was Renaissance Venice.
Drawing from social theorisations of secrecy and discussions on the amorphous Myth of Venice, this paper will show how the Council of Ten – the committee responsible for state security – managed to construct an exclusive community of intelligencers and spies that was premised on secrecy and, by extension, the principles of reciprocal confidence and trust. To incentivize participation, the Ten tapped into the commercial predisposition of Venetians, turning intelligence into a mutually beneficial transaction between rulers and ruled. Enshrined in this commodification of intelligence, even ordinary Venetians, who were excluded from political participation, developed a political purpose within the state, one that was masked in the form of business. This, however, is only part of the story. To legitimise clandestine operations, the Ten reverberated the rhetoric of the significance of collective contribution to the public good. In essence, they associated secrecy and clandestinity with good citizenship. Ultimately, the paper will argue that, in an exemplar of effective leadership, the Ten masterminded a community whose collective identity stemmed from belong-ness in an exclusive realm of secrecy for the servizio publico.
Carnival Dress in 16th Century Venice: Disguise or Official Attire?
Carnival in Venice was an important event in the yearly calendar which attracted Venetians and foreigners alike. Everyone’s preoccupation during this period centred around the various firework displays, comedies, operas and ballets, which were organised and carefully orchestrated specifically for the carnival season by young patrician members of the Compagnie delle Calze and funded by the Venetian government. Undoubtedly, what they wore during those occasions was a primary concern for Venetian patricians, cittadini and popolani alike. Images of carnival revellers together with shop inventories of strazzaruoli, the second-hand clothes’ dealers, reveal the full sets of carnival costumes which were complemented with an assortment of masques for the occasion. But why did Venetians buy, rent and wear these elaborate costumes? Were they merely a means of disguise serving their incognito apparel or were they yet another form of official dress in Venice adopted during carnival season?
This paper focuses on carnival attire as a complex form of dress encompassing not only the popular notion that this kind of disguise facilitated freedom from inhibitions, but also the concept that it functioned as an alternative style of sanctioned dress during a distinct time of the year when the Venetian government strictly regulated all the seemingly spontaneous events that took place incessantly throughout Venice. Ultimately, this form of authorised attire functioned as an avenue, linking various social classes in an equal playing field, which was constructed by the Venetian government and could be used to its advantage.
Archival bindings, especially if undecorated, have gone largely unnoticed for centuries. The way ... more Archival bindings, especially if undecorated, have gone largely unnoticed for centuries. The way records are physically organised, however, holds fundamentals evidence for historians. In this paper, we consider the material manifestation of the changes recordkeeping underwent in Aragonese Sicily. In this context they established a complex system of books, through which the financial office of the Conservatoria regii patrimonii was able to manage a large amount of information, which was organised in different series and mobile sections. Unlike the documentary type known as ‘register’, which had a rigid physical structure, the shape and the composition of the Conservatoria books changed across the year and according to the administrative needs of the government. The innovative record-keeping system they developed, as clearly attested by the stratification of bindings, was therefore fully part of the record-making process itself. The analysis of the textual, palaeographical and material components of the records allows us to examine them in their complexity. On one hand, we were able to isolate the changes they went through over their lifespans: from individual items, they grew to units held together through quire tackets and finally to bound volumes. On the other hand, material evidence indicates that recordkeeping and bookbinding practices evolved over time. Through this exemplary case study, we wish to demonstrate how materiality and textuality come together in researching late mediaeval and early modern recordkeeping practices, and how the virtual ‘deconstruction’ of a record should invest every component.
For more information about the workshop: https://thematterof.wordpress.com/
This paper aims to explore the widely-studied phenomenon of Hellenism in fifteenth- and sixteenth... more This paper aims to explore the widely-studied phenomenon of Hellenism in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Venice from a unique perspective: that of material culture. Focusing on the carrier of culture par excellence – the book – it will show how the model of Byzantine bookbindings was developed structurally and aesthetically by Venetian craftsmen in over a century (1460s-1580s). This process, fuelled by cultural appropriation and possibly the presence of Greek bookbinders, led to the creation of a style called “alla greca”, which enjoyed a relative popularity among the local elites.
Book materiality helps casting light upon what it meant to “be Greek” and “look Greek” at a time when Hellenism had not only a cultural significance but also a strong political weight, as the Republic of Venice was actively attempting to fill the void left by the Fall of the Byzantine Empire. By looking at visual and textual sources, I will consider how Italian humanists looked at the local manufacture of Greek-style bookbindings, and at how the vocabulary they employed relates to book materiality.
Finally, I will discuss how the terminology used to define and describe Greek-style bindings made in Venice (and other locales), which nowadays draws on historical sources, can be modified to better serve scholarly purposes.
I-CHORA is a well-established series of conferences dedicated to cross-disciplinary explorations ... more I-CHORA is a well-established series of conferences dedicated to cross-disciplinary explorations of the history of records and archives.
I-CHORA 7 will be held in Amsterdam, from July 29th to 31st, 2015; it will be hosted by the University of Amsterdam, Department of Media Studies, and the Amsterdam School for Heritage and Memory Studies.
The conference will take place at the site of the Amsterdam City Archives, in the De Bazel Conference Centre, an impressive art deco building in the heart of the old city.
The theme of I-CHORA 7 is Engaging with Archives and Records: Histories and Theories. The Call for Papers invited a wide range of scholars and practitioners (including social historians, cultural theorists, communication and media specialists, archivists, librarians, and other information professionals) to reflect on the following topics:
• hidden (and not so hidden) histories of particular recordmaking and recordkeeping cultures and communities
• the making/unmaking/remaking of records in times of conflict and war
• silences in the records
• communities and diasporas of records
• histories of archival concepts, functions, and methods through time andacross disciplines
• user perspectives on the archive through time and across disciplines
• theorizing the history of archives in the wake of the archival turn
• historicizing and theorizing the archive and archives in the digital world
From documentary practices in 15th-century Sicily to the archival impulse in contemporary art, the programme for I-CHORA 7 provides a forum for lively debates about the history and future of archives. We welcome you to enjoy the wide-ranging topics and perspectives of this year’s presentations!
I-CHORA 7 offers a unique opportunity for scholars and practitioners to come together in an inspiring city and venue to engage with histories and theories of records and archives.
This paper examines bookbinding techniques as tools for cultural history. Its focus will be on Gr... more This paper examines bookbinding techniques as tools for cultural history. Its focus will be on Greek-style and hybrid (Greek-Venetian) bindings, a style featured on a limited but significant number of books in Renaissance Veneto. Until now, their decorative patterns have received most attention; however, as a hybrid of Byzantine and Western practices, I argue that their structures can provide insight on the cultural identity of owners and makers. I will consider the case study of a group of manuscripts bound in the Greek style for Gian Vincenzo Pinelli, and the search for a balance between aesthetic criteria and functionality, and genuinely Greek features and Western practices.
Greek-style bookbindings stand "on the edge" in many a way: by being born from the encounter of W... more Greek-style bookbindings stand "on the edge" in many a way: by being born from the encounter of Western and Byzantine practices, they are a hybrid craft; by developing between the end of the 15th century and the turn of the 17th century, they are on the edge of one of the greatest changing points in cultural history, i.e. the introduction of typography; and in their materiality, they are the constant evolution of a balance between aesthetics and functionality.
A small but significant production, Greek-style bindings were used for (mainly) Greek texts, both in manuscript and printed form. They developed as a craft and cultural practice in the milieux of Renaissance Venice and Padua, France, and Rome. These bindings featured Byzantine physical characteristics, sometimes to the point where they could deceive their observers, but more often with a variable degree of hybridism; but how did the encounter with European practices transform the Greek book? Which traits could be abandoned in the pursuit of ideal Westernised Greek book, and what was so highly iconic that it had to stay? How are Western structures adapted to look Greek? Ultimately, what did owners want books to reveal about their cultural identity? And what do Greek-style bindings tell us to this day about them, and about the people who crafted them?
This paper looks a specific solution adopted by binders to cope with patrons' requests, as well as their significance in the perspective of cultural identities, cultural appropriation and self-fashioning. As material carriers of ancient texts, books can, examined in their contexts, be an invaluable tool to understand Humanism. I will present case studies, the Greek-style bindings in the collection of Gian Vincenzo Pinelli, now at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan.
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Journal articles by Anna Gialdini
The history and materiality of the volume, which was acquired by the Bibilioteca Ambrosiana with the library of Cesare Rovida, are likewise considered. Finally, the possibility is discussed that the fragment indicates the book once belonged to Reginald Pole himself.
L’articolo presenta un frammento inedito di una lettera indirizzata a Reginald Pole, utilizzato come segnalibro all’interno di una copia del terzo volume dell’edizione Aldina di Aristotele, conservata presso la Biblioteca Ambrosiana: Ambr. INC. 372/1. Tramite confronto paleografico e analisi del contenuto, se ne ricostruiscono l’autore, Stephen Gardiner, che divenne in seguito vescovo di Winchester, e le circostanze di redazione, vale a dire la missione diplomatica presso papa Clemente VII dell’inverno 1529. Si analizza inoltre anche nei suoi aspetti materiali la storia del volume, entrato a far parte dell’Ambrosiana con l’acquisto della biblioteca di Cesare Rovida. Alla luce degli elementi forniti dal f rammento, viene presentata la possibilità che abbia fatto parte della collezione libraria dello stesso Pole.
This article considers a group of six Greek manuscripts that entered the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan with the collection of Gian Vincenzo Pinelli. It examines their hybrid Greek-style bindings as a telling case-study in the intellectual and cultural history of late sixteenth-century Europe. Through the analysis of the complex history of the individual items, it is possible to argue that Pinelli himself commissioned the bindings, and to challenge the widely held opinion that he had no interest in how his books were bound. Finally, it considers how Pinelli, as a bibliophile and scholar, chose to have these manuscripts bound in expensive materials but decorated very soberly, ultimately creating a powerful tool of self-fashioning in opposition to the cultural trends of his time.
Exhibition catalogues by Anna Gialdini
Selected conference papers by Anna Gialdini
The material culture of the collecting of Greek books in Europe was permeated with cultural and political subtexts. Many bibliophiles had volumes bound in the Greek style simply because of the refined elegance and luxury they emanated. In Venice and France, however, the patrician élite and the royals actively researched such objects also for the message they conveyed, namely that the Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of France were the cultural heirs to the throne of Byzantium, unjustly held by the Ottoman Sultan. Cultural motives were thus employed to reinforce claims originally made on an economic and political basis. This paper will offer a comparative analysis of two case studies. Firstly, a group of bookbindings made at the expense of young Venetian patricians in the 1510s at the request of their teacher, the Greek Marcus Musurus; and secondly, the hellenised material culture and the production of Greek-style bindings in France.
These case studies clearly illustrate how differences in material aspects, such as structures and materials, mirror different approaches, despite serving similar functions. The Greek-style bindings made for the “Eupatrides”, as Musurus called his students, were fairly close to their Byzantine models both in techniques and decorative practices, which was common in Venice. The dedications inscribed by Musurus on the endleaves in an elegant Attic prose praised the Eupatrides as models of virtues esteemed by Classical Greek and Early Modern Venetian cultures alike. On the other hand, Charles VIII was depicted in “Byzantine accoutrements” around the same time as a prophecy circulated announcing the coming of one Charles, son of a father by the same name, who would subjugate continental Europe and become King of the Greeks. In 1519 Francis I founded a collège for Greek students in Milan, and in 1540 Etienne Roffet, the relieur du roi, started producing Greek-style bindings. The hundreds of Greek-style bookbindings produced in Paris and Fontainebleau, which were initially very genuine in their structures, soon began to diverge from their models to adopt French techniques and decorative languages. Books in Latin and the vernacular were also bound in this hybrid style.
In this paper, I will adopt a comparative approach to delineate points of contact and divergences between these two historical narratives. By looking at material culture and collecting practices in the context of wider cultural and intellectual frameworks, I hope to demonstrate that they expressed historical narratives of translatio imperii, which were looked favorably upon, or actively enacted by, the ruling class.
Chair: Dr Filippo De Vivo, Birkbeck University of London
Speakers: Anna Gialdini, University of the Arts London; Jola Pellumbi, King's College London; Dr Ioanna Iordanou, Oxford Brookes University
Papers:
Bookbinders of Venice, 1450-1630: Social History of an 'Invisible' Professional Body
The Renaissance book trade in Italy, and in Venice in particular, has been a very popular field of enquiry for well over a century; today, it continues to gather the attention of scholars working on production, consumption, and circulation of early modern books. One professional body, however, has been insofar mostly neglected, even after the so-called 'material turn' and a shift of focus towards the materiality of ancient books: that of bookbinders. This gap in the social history of the Venetian book is easily explained with the difficulties inherent to the investigation of individuals that seem to be 'invisible' in primary sources: their supposedly low social status, the lack of a specific corporation, and an active attempt to limit their interaction with customers on the part of booksellers.
This paper will present a social history of the bookbinders of Venice from the coming of typography to the early seventeenth century. Drawing on research carried out in the State Archive of Venice that yielded documents concerning almost one hundred bookbinders, this paper presents a varied scenario, spanning from lowly stationers to refined artists with a clear and deliberate agency in their work. It will show how bookbinders interacted with patrons, booksellers, and the Venetian authorities, discuss the urban geography of the trade, and consider the strategies put in place by binders to counteract the higher degree of exposure to customers from which other book dealers benefited.
Enterprising Secrets and Spies in Early Modern Venice: The Social Construction of Collective Identity
Information exchange is a historical phenomenon that spans from the ancient Athenian messengers, to the Enlightenment coffeehouse patrons, and contemporary whistle-blowers. These manifestations of information exchange are built on similar incentives; people’s need to know, to belong, and to make a difference. But there was one state that was so business-savvy, that turned information exchange and, ultimately, intelligence and espionage, into an enterprising business. It did so by engaging its subjects in a lucrative trade of information between the government and the governed. This state was Renaissance Venice.
Drawing from social theorisations of secrecy and discussions on the amorphous Myth of Venice, this paper will show how the Council of Ten – the committee responsible for state security – managed to construct an exclusive community of intelligencers and spies that was premised on secrecy and, by extension, the principles of reciprocal confidence and trust. To incentivize participation, the Ten tapped into the commercial predisposition of Venetians, turning intelligence into a mutually beneficial transaction between rulers and ruled. Enshrined in this commodification of intelligence, even ordinary Venetians, who were excluded from political participation, developed a political purpose within the state, one that was masked in the form of business. This, however, is only part of the story. To legitimise clandestine operations, the Ten reverberated the rhetoric of the significance of collective contribution to the public good. In essence, they associated secrecy and clandestinity with good citizenship. Ultimately, the paper will argue that, in an exemplar of effective leadership, the Ten masterminded a community whose collective identity stemmed from belong-ness in an exclusive realm of secrecy for the servizio publico.
Carnival Dress in 16th Century Venice: Disguise or Official Attire?
Carnival in Venice was an important event in the yearly calendar which attracted Venetians and foreigners alike. Everyone’s preoccupation during this period centred around the various firework displays, comedies, operas and ballets, which were organised and carefully orchestrated specifically for the carnival season by young patrician members of the Compagnie delle Calze and funded by the Venetian government. Undoubtedly, what they wore during those occasions was a primary concern for Venetian patricians, cittadini and popolani alike. Images of carnival revellers together with shop inventories of strazzaruoli, the second-hand clothes’ dealers, reveal the full sets of carnival costumes which were complemented with an assortment of masques for the occasion. But why did Venetians buy, rent and wear these elaborate costumes? Were they merely a means of disguise serving their incognito apparel or were they yet another form of official dress in Venice adopted during carnival season?
This paper focuses on carnival attire as a complex form of dress encompassing not only the popular notion that this kind of disguise facilitated freedom from inhibitions, but also the concept that it functioned as an alternative style of sanctioned dress during a distinct time of the year when the Venetian government strictly regulated all the seemingly spontaneous events that took place incessantly throughout Venice. Ultimately, this form of authorised attire functioned as an avenue, linking various social classes in an equal playing field, which was constructed by the Venetian government and could be used to its advantage.
For more information about the workshop: https://thematterof.wordpress.com/
Book materiality helps casting light upon what it meant to “be Greek” and “look Greek” at a time when Hellenism had not only a cultural significance but also a strong political weight, as the Republic of Venice was actively attempting to fill the void left by the Fall of the Byzantine Empire. By looking at visual and textual sources, I will consider how Italian humanists looked at the local manufacture of Greek-style bookbindings, and at how the vocabulary they employed relates to book materiality.
Finally, I will discuss how the terminology used to define and describe Greek-style bindings made in Venice (and other locales), which nowadays draws on historical sources, can be modified to better serve scholarly purposes.
I-CHORA 7 will be held in Amsterdam, from July 29th to 31st, 2015; it will be hosted by the University of Amsterdam, Department of Media Studies, and the Amsterdam School for Heritage and Memory Studies.
The conference will take place at the site of the Amsterdam City Archives, in the De Bazel Conference Centre, an impressive art deco building in the heart of the old city.
The theme of I-CHORA 7 is Engaging with Archives and Records: Histories and Theories. The Call for Papers invited a wide range of scholars and practitioners (including social historians, cultural theorists, communication and media specialists, archivists, librarians, and other information professionals) to reflect on the following topics:
• hidden (and not so hidden) histories of particular recordmaking and recordkeeping cultures and communities
• the making/unmaking/remaking of records in times of conflict and war
• silences in the records
• communities and diasporas of records
• histories of archival concepts, functions, and methods through time andacross disciplines
• user perspectives on the archive through time and across disciplines
• theorizing the history of archives in the wake of the archival turn
• historicizing and theorizing the archive and archives in the digital world
From documentary practices in 15th-century Sicily to the archival impulse in contemporary art, the programme for I-CHORA 7 provides a forum for lively debates about the history and future of archives. We welcome you to enjoy the wide-ranging topics and perspectives of this year’s presentations!
I-CHORA 7 offers a unique opportunity for scholars and practitioners to come together in an inspiring city and venue to engage with histories and theories of records and archives.
A small but significant production, Greek-style bindings were used for (mainly) Greek texts, both in manuscript and printed form. They developed as a craft and cultural practice in the milieux of Renaissance Venice and Padua, France, and Rome. These bindings featured Byzantine physical characteristics, sometimes to the point where they could deceive their observers, but more often with a variable degree of hybridism; but how did the encounter with European practices transform the Greek book? Which traits could be abandoned in the pursuit of ideal Westernised Greek book, and what was so highly iconic that it had to stay? How are Western structures adapted to look Greek? Ultimately, what did owners want books to reveal about their cultural identity? And what do Greek-style bindings tell us to this day about them, and about the people who crafted them?
This paper looks a specific solution adopted by binders to cope with patrons' requests, as well as their significance in the perspective of cultural identities, cultural appropriation and self-fashioning. As material carriers of ancient texts, books can, examined in their contexts, be an invaluable tool to understand Humanism. I will present case studies, the Greek-style bindings in the collection of Gian Vincenzo Pinelli, now at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan.
The history and materiality of the volume, which was acquired by the Bibilioteca Ambrosiana with the library of Cesare Rovida, are likewise considered. Finally, the possibility is discussed that the fragment indicates the book once belonged to Reginald Pole himself.
L’articolo presenta un frammento inedito di una lettera indirizzata a Reginald Pole, utilizzato come segnalibro all’interno di una copia del terzo volume dell’edizione Aldina di Aristotele, conservata presso la Biblioteca Ambrosiana: Ambr. INC. 372/1. Tramite confronto paleografico e analisi del contenuto, se ne ricostruiscono l’autore, Stephen Gardiner, che divenne in seguito vescovo di Winchester, e le circostanze di redazione, vale a dire la missione diplomatica presso papa Clemente VII dell’inverno 1529. Si analizza inoltre anche nei suoi aspetti materiali la storia del volume, entrato a far parte dell’Ambrosiana con l’acquisto della biblioteca di Cesare Rovida. Alla luce degli elementi forniti dal f rammento, viene presentata la possibilità che abbia fatto parte della collezione libraria dello stesso Pole.
This article considers a group of six Greek manuscripts that entered the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan with the collection of Gian Vincenzo Pinelli. It examines their hybrid Greek-style bindings as a telling case-study in the intellectual and cultural history of late sixteenth-century Europe. Through the analysis of the complex history of the individual items, it is possible to argue that Pinelli himself commissioned the bindings, and to challenge the widely held opinion that he had no interest in how his books were bound. Finally, it considers how Pinelli, as a bibliophile and scholar, chose to have these manuscripts bound in expensive materials but decorated very soberly, ultimately creating a powerful tool of self-fashioning in opposition to the cultural trends of his time.
The material culture of the collecting of Greek books in Europe was permeated with cultural and political subtexts. Many bibliophiles had volumes bound in the Greek style simply because of the refined elegance and luxury they emanated. In Venice and France, however, the patrician élite and the royals actively researched such objects also for the message they conveyed, namely that the Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of France were the cultural heirs to the throne of Byzantium, unjustly held by the Ottoman Sultan. Cultural motives were thus employed to reinforce claims originally made on an economic and political basis. This paper will offer a comparative analysis of two case studies. Firstly, a group of bookbindings made at the expense of young Venetian patricians in the 1510s at the request of their teacher, the Greek Marcus Musurus; and secondly, the hellenised material culture and the production of Greek-style bindings in France.
These case studies clearly illustrate how differences in material aspects, such as structures and materials, mirror different approaches, despite serving similar functions. The Greek-style bindings made for the “Eupatrides”, as Musurus called his students, were fairly close to their Byzantine models both in techniques and decorative practices, which was common in Venice. The dedications inscribed by Musurus on the endleaves in an elegant Attic prose praised the Eupatrides as models of virtues esteemed by Classical Greek and Early Modern Venetian cultures alike. On the other hand, Charles VIII was depicted in “Byzantine accoutrements” around the same time as a prophecy circulated announcing the coming of one Charles, son of a father by the same name, who would subjugate continental Europe and become King of the Greeks. In 1519 Francis I founded a collège for Greek students in Milan, and in 1540 Etienne Roffet, the relieur du roi, started producing Greek-style bindings. The hundreds of Greek-style bookbindings produced in Paris and Fontainebleau, which were initially very genuine in their structures, soon began to diverge from their models to adopt French techniques and decorative languages. Books in Latin and the vernacular were also bound in this hybrid style.
In this paper, I will adopt a comparative approach to delineate points of contact and divergences between these two historical narratives. By looking at material culture and collecting practices in the context of wider cultural and intellectual frameworks, I hope to demonstrate that they expressed historical narratives of translatio imperii, which were looked favorably upon, or actively enacted by, the ruling class.
Chair: Dr Filippo De Vivo, Birkbeck University of London
Speakers: Anna Gialdini, University of the Arts London; Jola Pellumbi, King's College London; Dr Ioanna Iordanou, Oxford Brookes University
Papers:
Bookbinders of Venice, 1450-1630: Social History of an 'Invisible' Professional Body
The Renaissance book trade in Italy, and in Venice in particular, has been a very popular field of enquiry for well over a century; today, it continues to gather the attention of scholars working on production, consumption, and circulation of early modern books. One professional body, however, has been insofar mostly neglected, even after the so-called 'material turn' and a shift of focus towards the materiality of ancient books: that of bookbinders. This gap in the social history of the Venetian book is easily explained with the difficulties inherent to the investigation of individuals that seem to be 'invisible' in primary sources: their supposedly low social status, the lack of a specific corporation, and an active attempt to limit their interaction with customers on the part of booksellers.
This paper will present a social history of the bookbinders of Venice from the coming of typography to the early seventeenth century. Drawing on research carried out in the State Archive of Venice that yielded documents concerning almost one hundred bookbinders, this paper presents a varied scenario, spanning from lowly stationers to refined artists with a clear and deliberate agency in their work. It will show how bookbinders interacted with patrons, booksellers, and the Venetian authorities, discuss the urban geography of the trade, and consider the strategies put in place by binders to counteract the higher degree of exposure to customers from which other book dealers benefited.
Enterprising Secrets and Spies in Early Modern Venice: The Social Construction of Collective Identity
Information exchange is a historical phenomenon that spans from the ancient Athenian messengers, to the Enlightenment coffeehouse patrons, and contemporary whistle-blowers. These manifestations of information exchange are built on similar incentives; people’s need to know, to belong, and to make a difference. But there was one state that was so business-savvy, that turned information exchange and, ultimately, intelligence and espionage, into an enterprising business. It did so by engaging its subjects in a lucrative trade of information between the government and the governed. This state was Renaissance Venice.
Drawing from social theorisations of secrecy and discussions on the amorphous Myth of Venice, this paper will show how the Council of Ten – the committee responsible for state security – managed to construct an exclusive community of intelligencers and spies that was premised on secrecy and, by extension, the principles of reciprocal confidence and trust. To incentivize participation, the Ten tapped into the commercial predisposition of Venetians, turning intelligence into a mutually beneficial transaction between rulers and ruled. Enshrined in this commodification of intelligence, even ordinary Venetians, who were excluded from political participation, developed a political purpose within the state, one that was masked in the form of business. This, however, is only part of the story. To legitimise clandestine operations, the Ten reverberated the rhetoric of the significance of collective contribution to the public good. In essence, they associated secrecy and clandestinity with good citizenship. Ultimately, the paper will argue that, in an exemplar of effective leadership, the Ten masterminded a community whose collective identity stemmed from belong-ness in an exclusive realm of secrecy for the servizio publico.
Carnival Dress in 16th Century Venice: Disguise or Official Attire?
Carnival in Venice was an important event in the yearly calendar which attracted Venetians and foreigners alike. Everyone’s preoccupation during this period centred around the various firework displays, comedies, operas and ballets, which were organised and carefully orchestrated specifically for the carnival season by young patrician members of the Compagnie delle Calze and funded by the Venetian government. Undoubtedly, what they wore during those occasions was a primary concern for Venetian patricians, cittadini and popolani alike. Images of carnival revellers together with shop inventories of strazzaruoli, the second-hand clothes’ dealers, reveal the full sets of carnival costumes which were complemented with an assortment of masques for the occasion. But why did Venetians buy, rent and wear these elaborate costumes? Were they merely a means of disguise serving their incognito apparel or were they yet another form of official dress in Venice adopted during carnival season?
This paper focuses on carnival attire as a complex form of dress encompassing not only the popular notion that this kind of disguise facilitated freedom from inhibitions, but also the concept that it functioned as an alternative style of sanctioned dress during a distinct time of the year when the Venetian government strictly regulated all the seemingly spontaneous events that took place incessantly throughout Venice. Ultimately, this form of authorised attire functioned as an avenue, linking various social classes in an equal playing field, which was constructed by the Venetian government and could be used to its advantage.
For more information about the workshop: https://thematterof.wordpress.com/
Book materiality helps casting light upon what it meant to “be Greek” and “look Greek” at a time when Hellenism had not only a cultural significance but also a strong political weight, as the Republic of Venice was actively attempting to fill the void left by the Fall of the Byzantine Empire. By looking at visual and textual sources, I will consider how Italian humanists looked at the local manufacture of Greek-style bookbindings, and at how the vocabulary they employed relates to book materiality.
Finally, I will discuss how the terminology used to define and describe Greek-style bindings made in Venice (and other locales), which nowadays draws on historical sources, can be modified to better serve scholarly purposes.
I-CHORA 7 will be held in Amsterdam, from July 29th to 31st, 2015; it will be hosted by the University of Amsterdam, Department of Media Studies, and the Amsterdam School for Heritage and Memory Studies.
The conference will take place at the site of the Amsterdam City Archives, in the De Bazel Conference Centre, an impressive art deco building in the heart of the old city.
The theme of I-CHORA 7 is Engaging with Archives and Records: Histories and Theories. The Call for Papers invited a wide range of scholars and practitioners (including social historians, cultural theorists, communication and media specialists, archivists, librarians, and other information professionals) to reflect on the following topics:
• hidden (and not so hidden) histories of particular recordmaking and recordkeeping cultures and communities
• the making/unmaking/remaking of records in times of conflict and war
• silences in the records
• communities and diasporas of records
• histories of archival concepts, functions, and methods through time andacross disciplines
• user perspectives on the archive through time and across disciplines
• theorizing the history of archives in the wake of the archival turn
• historicizing and theorizing the archive and archives in the digital world
From documentary practices in 15th-century Sicily to the archival impulse in contemporary art, the programme for I-CHORA 7 provides a forum for lively debates about the history and future of archives. We welcome you to enjoy the wide-ranging topics and perspectives of this year’s presentations!
I-CHORA 7 offers a unique opportunity for scholars and practitioners to come together in an inspiring city and venue to engage with histories and theories of records and archives.
A small but significant production, Greek-style bindings were used for (mainly) Greek texts, both in manuscript and printed form. They developed as a craft and cultural practice in the milieux of Renaissance Venice and Padua, France, and Rome. These bindings featured Byzantine physical characteristics, sometimes to the point where they could deceive their observers, but more often with a variable degree of hybridism; but how did the encounter with European practices transform the Greek book? Which traits could be abandoned in the pursuit of ideal Westernised Greek book, and what was so highly iconic that it had to stay? How are Western structures adapted to look Greek? Ultimately, what did owners want books to reveal about their cultural identity? And what do Greek-style bindings tell us to this day about them, and about the people who crafted them?
This paper looks a specific solution adopted by binders to cope with patrons' requests, as well as their significance in the perspective of cultural identities, cultural appropriation and self-fashioning. As material carriers of ancient texts, books can, examined in their contexts, be an invaluable tool to understand Humanism. I will present case studies, the Greek-style bindings in the collection of Gian Vincenzo Pinelli, now at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan.
The following speakers are confirmed to speak: Danae Bafa, UCL; Jessica Berenbeim, Magdalene College, University of Oxford; Carlo Federici, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice; Emily Taylor, British Museum; Alfred Hiatt, Queen Mary University of London; Ian Sansom, University of Warwick.
More information and the definitive programme will follow shortly