L'alba dei libri

by Alessandro Marzo Magno

Dov'è stato pubblicato il primo Corano in arabo? Il primo Talmud? Il primo libro in armeno, in greco o in cirillico bosniaco? Dove sono stati venduti il primo tascabile e i primi bestseller? La risposta è sempre e soltanto una: a Venezia. Venezia era una multinazionale del libro, con le più grandi tipografie del mondo, in grado di stampare in qualsiasi lingua la metà dei libri pubblicati nell'intera Europa. Aldo Manuzio è il genio che inventa la figura dell'editore moderno. Pubblica tutti i maggiori classici in greco e in latino, ma usa l'italiano per stampare i libri a maggiore diffusione. Inventa un nuovo carattere a stampa, il corsivo. Importa dal greco al volgare la punteggiatura che utilizziamo ancora oggi. Alessandro Marzo Magno racconta la straordinaria avventura imprenditoriale e culturale della prima industria moderna. Perché nei primi magici decenni del Cinquecento a Venezia si inventa quasi tutto ciò che noi conosciamo del libro e dell'editoria. La Serenissima resterà la capitale dei libri finché la Chiesa non riuscirà a imporre la censura dell'inquisizione. E la libertà di stampa cercherà nuovi rifugi nell'Europa del Nord.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Italy, Books About Books, Ebooks

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book needed two editors. The first for the Italian original, to oversee a strenuous overhaul of the disjointed, disorganized writing. The second for the occasionally clumsy Italian translation and to proofread the thing before sending it to print.

The concept is lovely: Venice at the center of early publishing. After a couple of chapters of general history, Magno proposes chapters that describe publishing in various subject areas: exploration, military affairs, gastronomy, music, etc. Except that he can’t decide whether he’s writing a history of publishing, or an encyclopedia on all those topics, or a history of Venice, or possibly a collection of random facts he discovered during his research. So he mashes all of them together with sorry results. You do learn something about the original topic, but it could have been so much better.

[Mary Warnement · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so poorly edited that it's own publishing information on the verso of the title page declared it a work of fiction while the advertised list of books in the series in the back correctly listed it with non-fiction. There were probably problems with the original Italian, but I'll only mention the many misplaced or extraneous commas and incomplete sentences. It was like stubbing one's toe on every page; your eye and brain had to take a step back and reread. And it's not as if what was there was worth a second look. The topic of book publishing in Venice from the 15th on is interesting to me, but at times this read like a list. I skimmed the last few chapters just to be done with it. Europa Editions: I expect more of you. Please, if you've laid off editors, reconsider.

[Alessia Gwammy Lisbeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Molto scorrevole e ricco di curiosità su quella che fu una vera e propria industria nel cuore della Serenissima. Troverete Manuzio, ma anche il primo Corano e il primo Talmud, classici greci e libri armeni. Se amate i libri e la storia dell'editoria, non potete non avere questo libro sul vostro scaffale.

[Tintaglia]

Francamente, da argomento e autore mi aspettavo molto di più.
Invece ho trovato un accumulo di informazioni esposte in maniera noiosetta, e di cui per quello che ho letto (ed è stata quasi la metà del volume) mi è rimasto ben poco.
Ma visto che i miei esami di biblioteconomia e bibliografia son già stati dati, non valeva la pena, onestamente continuare ad addormentarmi davanti alla pagina.

[Misa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recomiendo este libro a especialistas e interesados en la historia o en el mundo editorial. Pues es un libro con muchos datos históricos y técnicos como para que su lectura resulte sencilla y/o amena. Es un libro interesante aunque demasiado sesudo y bien documentado, lo que hace su lectura lenta y algo fatigosa.

[Juan Quiroga · Rating 3 out of 5]

RESEÑA COMPLETA EN MI BLOG: https://lavidadeungamerprincipiante.b...

[Katie Fellows · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful rich cultural, social and literary history of Venice and the book trade! Highly recommend to bibliophiles!

[Bere Tarará · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excelente libro sobre la edición del siglo XVI en Venecia, el primer capítulo es una belleza

[Katherine Relf-canas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read full of lore about many firsts achieved in the book world by Venetians who invented the book trade and whose city republic served as its capitol for hundreds of years. We read about Aldous Manutius (inventor of the semicolon) whose many practices and innovations are the basis on which even today a lot of worldwide printing norms were founded. We learn that half of all the books printed in Europe in the early 16th Century were printed in Venice. The author recounts tales of Venice best sellers -- the early prototypes of cookbooks, beauty guides, medical and law books and even porn -- Loved this book and was sorry when I got to the last page. As I was finishing it, I could hear the printer going downstairs, as though some old ghost had decided to make an appearance to wish me an ironic farewell. Chapters are divided into extremely detailed and Academic surveys on specialized topics that are scholarly but written in an engaging way. The last chapter chronicles lasts--concluding with a sad note about the decline of the Serene Republic's political glory, details on the Inquisition (read book-burning bonfires), limits on freedom of expression that was once characteristic of the cultural scene and the last heroes who brought unique contributions to publishing practices even as late as the early 1900s. Yes, between these covers, you will encounter many factoids to gloss over, but also romantically obscure figures, such as Ferdinand Ongania who, the author says saw himself as the heir to the past, linked to the era when Venice was at the center of the world in culture and glory and publishing trade. The author makes this compendium of arcana on printing and cultural history a scholarly tome but one that is interesting and gives you a glimpse into the Serene Republic of long ago. You will learn many titilating facts about obsolete technology and entrepreneurial innovators you were born four centuries too late to meet but whose work comes alive on these pages.

[Jazmin Tischler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me es imposible contarles toooodo lo que van a encontrar al leer este libro. Pero voy a intentar hacer un breve resumen para engancharlos, ¡porque es una gran obra que todo gran lector debe tener en su mesita de luz!

Nos encontramos con 11 capítulos donde nos cuentan la historia de los libros, las librerías, los best-selles y demás creaciones del mundo literario. Para serles sincera, pensé que me iba a ser cuesta arriba porque no soy muy afín a leer libros con tópicos ‘históricos’, pero me sorprendí al no poder soltarlo y engancharme desde la primera página.

Arrancamos en Venecia, Italia - qué lugarcito para iniciar con el mundo literario, ¿no? Desconocía por completo la diversidad literaria y la gran cantidad de librerías que se hallaban allí en el siglo XVI. Como también que allí fue donde se imprimió el primer Corán 😱 Les tiraría más datos curiosos, pero prefiero dejarlos con la intriga para tentarlos que lo lean, jeje.

Mientras lo leía, pensaba ‘me gustaría tener una máquina del tiempo y viajar a aquel entonces, poder vivir en ese tiempo’. Pero, por suerte, el escritor tomo el toro por las astas y es súper descriptivo con los ambientes, los lugares, las personas y demás aspectos que nos hacen sentir como si estuviésemos en el lugar en ese momento.

Al final tenemos 3 apartados: “Notas”, “Bibliografía” e “Índice Onomástico”, un respaldo para poder investigar más a los autores y libros mencionados.

Quería resaltar varias frases, pero la edición es tan cuidada que no me animé 🙈 El contorno de las páginas es naranja, al igual que el lomo - ¡no saben que lindo queda en la biblioteca! 😍.

Es un libro ideal para:

👉🏻Los amantes de la lectura, que ya de por sí somos curiosos… para conocer el detrás de escena y la historia de la industria de hoy día.

👉🏻Los amigos no lectores que todos tenemos 😅, ¡regánlenle este libro! Cuando lo termine, va a querer leerse todo lo que encuentre en su camino.

[Luzadriana Nuñez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irónicamente, es un libro que aborda los inicios de la edición pero está mal editado. Al menos, la que leí de Malpaso, contiene dedazos y erratas en fechas, omite palabras y precisa de una mejor corrección ortotipográfica. También el estilo y la maquetación del texto tienen sus detalles.
También arrastra errores de traducción, derivados de una no muy buena organización del texto original en italiano, pues en ciertos párrafos las ideas se tornan confusas.

Podría ser un libro maravilloso, sin embargo, estás metidas de pata que van de una buena idea pero mala ejecución, restan muchos puntos en forma y contenido a una obra que podría convertirse en indispensable para la biblioteca de cualquier editor, bibliófilo, historiador o mero curioso.

Como comentario final, me gustaría agregar que añadir notas al pie enriquecería la edición. Tanto para hacer acotaciones históricas, geográficas, literarias o biográficas, como para incluir la traducción de nombres y frases en italiano, así como de aquellos detalles que ocupan (innecesariamente) espacio en la caja de texto principal y podrían ser abordados con mayor libertad aparte.

No obstante, es un texto rico y muy interesante, sobre todo en la manera de ligar procesos culturales y lingüísticos con la transformación de la edición recién concebida.

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book more. There’s a lot of great tidbits of people and books. But ultimately, I got a little lost in the minutia of this was published on this date and that was published on this other date. It’s also sad that some of the characters had interesting stories but not a lot of detail, and not much about women (noted by the author). The first chapter describing book stores was perhaps the best. It was translated or perhaps written in a somewhat breathless style, “in 1655 he is publishing his next book.”

It might have been more interesting if he told the story in terms of particular books. He delves into detail for a number (like the first Koran and its modern day rediscovery), but I would have also loved to have had photos of the books and gear, but have had the history, more, ahem, bounded, shall we say.

Utlimately, the most interesting bits to me were the glimpses into the history of Venice in this period which I know but little. This was a vibrant city, a crossroads of culture and commerce (of which the book talked about much), and it would be fun to read even more.

[Jeannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly not a book for everyone but I loved it.
Basically the history of publishing in Venice, featuring highlights such as the following:
- a chapter on the famous Aldus Manutius
- Cardinal Bessarione's key role in rescuing 800 manuscripts during the decline of Constantinople, and donating them to the Republic of Venice in 1468, which contributes to rise of Renaissance
- sixteenth century cartography frenzy, a “map mania" that was so significant to wider ocean navigation (and ironically Venice's ultimate decline)
- the multi-ethnic communities in Venice - who knew that one could find the tomb of the last Queen of Cyprus and Armenia, Caterina Corner, in the church of San Salvador
- that some spoken languages were originally written in different alphabets by different communities, e.g. Albanian which until little more than a century ago, was written by Muslims in Arabic letters, by Roman Catholics in Latin letters, and by Orthodox Catholics in Greek letters.

If all this sounds fascinating, then you'll love this book

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. As others have said, it is poorly edited and at times disjointed and difficult to read. The content of the book, and the obvious scholarship that went into it, make it worth reading anyway, especially if you are interested in the history of publishing, of how information traveled and influenced far-flung places, and if you have want to learn fascinating tidbits of the history of Venice.

[Valerio Pastore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro per parlare di libri, di un preciso contesto geografico e temporale, narrato in modo fluido, coinvolgente, divertente e senza cadere mai nei toni accademici. Un argomento affascinante -l'ascesa e la caduta dell'editoria veneziana campione d'Europa, fino a quando la teocrazia e i grandi cambiamenti politici non travolsero un sistema che, ahimè, fu troppo lento ad adeguarsi e diversificarsi, ma che fece in tempo a lasciarsi dietro una gloriosa eredità.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The editing here could do with some work, I have no idea if the issue is with the original source material or with the translation but either way it is an issue. That to one side this is a delightful and fascinating book. The history of printing in la Serenissima was always going to be of interest to me and I gained a huge insight into the history of my favourite place on earth.

[Eliz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been a great book, but poor translation/poor editing/many punctuation and grammatical errors and the fact that the tense changes from present to future tense (a bit weird for a book set in the 15th/16th centuary) let it down.

[Kilian Metcalf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating account of the early days of publishing.

[John Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in the world of old books, this needs to be on your shelf. Want to learn more about the Aldine Press? Of course you do.

[William Barrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Librarians and bibliophiles will find their fascination with the world of books and publishing heightened ever further by this book describing the early history (15th century onward) of book publishing in Venice. Magno's volume has been translated from its original Italian for English readers. Because it is a translation, some words will be unfamiliar and sometimes misspelled or used in unusual ways. The footnotes provide nothing more than references to Italian works contributing to the topics under discussion — no additional information or description — so they can be basically ignored while reading the content of the volume without interruption. A wealth of information awaits those who read Bound in Venice.

[Molinos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los primeros editores es un torrente de datos sobre libros, editores, impresores, autores y descubridores de tesoros impresos. Es un libro interesantísimo. Cuando uno piensa en la historia del libro, uno piensa: piedras, papiros, pergaminos, manuscritos, Gutenberg, incunable, libros. Y ya está. Marzo Magno nos coge de la mano, descorre las cortinas de la historia y nos hace asomarnos a una ciudad llena de librerías e imprentas. Venecia fue el centro impresor y editorial del mundo durante todo el siglo XVI. Allí trabajó el Miguel Ángel de la imprenta, Aldo Manuzio. A él le debemos la invención del libro de bolsillo, de la cursiva, del punto y coma, de los best sellers. Publica además el que es considerado el libro más bello jamás impreso, el Hypnetotomachia Poliphili (Polífilo), un libro lujurioso y pagano con representaciones eróticas y pornográficos escrito por el fraile dominico Francesco Colonna.

Marzo Magno, además, nos cuenta como en Venecia se imprimió el primer Corán de la historia, los primeros libros de cocina, los primeros libros en arameo, en griego, los primeros libros sobre cosmética, los primeros atlas. Allí también se estableció Pietro Aretino el primer autor de bestsellers gracia a sus diálogos pornográficos. Probablemente el adjetivo que más aparece en todo el libro sea primero. Los primeros editores es un libro de divulgación ameno y entretenido que a cualquiera que le interesen los libros le gustará. Además es curioso como su lectura te permite descubrir tu inmenso desconocimiento sobre la historia del libro impreso y, a la vez, te asombra que el libro tal y como lo conocemos formalmente es cómo es gracias a aquellos primeros editores. Ellos crearon el libro que casi siempre tengo en mis manos. Esta frase colgaba en la puerta del despacho de Aldo Manuzio en 1515.

«Quienquiera que seas, Aldo te pide que expongas tu cuestión con brevedad y te vayas cuanto antes»

[Ed Terrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bound in Venice transports the reader to a time when books were just beginning to be created. Book sellers and publishers flocked to Venice, the cultural and trade center of the early 16th century. Here they made there wares and stacked them unbound onto their shelves. Binding would come later and could cost as much as the pages that filled them. The book’s writing has at times a choppy feel which subtracts from what is otherwise an excellent and comprehensive review of how books came to be. From the Bible, Talmud and Koran we plunge forward to books on War, Music and Maps. Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian, becomes well known at this time through Mundus Novus, a letter written to Lorenzo d’Medici and reprinted so many times, it was certainly a best seller.

Only when the rise of powers in England and Western Europe, with their proximity to the New world, did Venice’s star begin to fade. Magno resurrects this star and with it the knowledge of its history of woodcuts and paper, pornography and cookbooks, and inventions like cursive writing (italics) and paperbacks for pleasure. A joy to the senses.

[Scrittevolmente · Rating 4 out of 5]

La storia qui raccontata non ha eguali in Europa, e poco importa il primato della Germania con il suo Guttenberg, inventore dei caratteri mobili (chi afferma che egli sia l’inventore della stampa non è molto preciso, di tecniche di stampa ve ne erano a iosa, e non solo in Europa: credo sia la prima cosa che imparano gli aspiranti bibliotecari).

Sono stati tre i presupposti che hanno consentito alla laguna una centralità senza precedenti:

1. un’alta concentrazione di letterati. Da non trascurare la presenza, all’interno della Repubblica di Venezia, dell’Università di Padova e la presenza di lettori forti: se in Germania la lettura aveva carattere elitario (1,5% della popolazione) a Venezia coinvolgeva un quarto della popolazione maschile tra i 6 e i 15 anni che andava a scuola.

2. un’ampia disponibilità di capitali oltre a notevoli capacità imprenditoriali

3. l’assenza di censura a causa di una ridotta influenza della Chiesa e dell’Inquisizione, almeno fino alla metà del secolo XVI.

Sarà grazie a uno stampatore d’eccezione come Aldo Manuzio che a Venezia fiorisce l’editoria e non solo quella italiana.

Per leggere la recensione per intero: QUI

[Alysa · Rating 3 out of 5]

To start, the positives: A fascinating topic, looking at the long history of publishing in Venice. The book is full of interesting facts that I had no previous knowledge about, and the idea of organizing the chapters topically (instead of chronologically, for example) was more beneficial for following the history of a particular type of publishing in Venice.

The drawbacks: The translation and editing for English were not great. It was tough to read at times, and the author seemed to jump around both topically and chronologically within chapters (I noticed this most prominently at the start of chapters). Not sure if this is an Italian writing style that simply reads very awkwardly for an English-trained reader, but it could definitely use another read over by someone fluent in English.

[Dvd (#) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non è un brutto libro....è a tratti molto interessante (il capitolo su Aldo Manuzio, il principe degli stampatori, su tutti) e contiene molte informazioni utili e preziose sul dinamismo economico e sociale della Repubblica di Venezia, di vedute liberali e pragmatismo ben superiore a qualunque stato dell'epoca.

Poi i capitoli si fanno specifici sui vari libri veneziani stampati nelle varie lingue o sui vari argomenti trattati e perde molto d'interesse.
Almeno per me che della storia dei libri in armeno o di quelli musicali e gastronomici interessa molto poco.....

[Elalma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quando la nascita del libro fece crollare i prezzi dei manoscritti e vide nascere il mercato editoriale. Quando l'Orlando Furioso divent� forse il primo best seller. Ma oltre a rimanere affascinati dal racconto della nascita e della riscoperta dei pi� importanti libri del Rinascimento e della storia, ci� che conquista � Venezia, dove allora tutto succedeva intorno all'arte, alla cultura. Una Venezia che nessuno ha conosciuto, che mor� purtroppo alla fine del settecento.

[Jennybeast · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cover. Bit of a slog to get through -- although more for it's comprehensive and academic focus than anything else. It's a survey of early printing in Venice, and as such is interesting and fairly concise. I was pleased to know more about Manutius, and I've never really thought about the history of printing in different languages, so that was cool. Not the best edited book out there, from a proofreading point of view, but altogether a useful and thorough survey.

[Paideia Sofista · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro se siente casi como si fuera la transcripción de una serie de breves conferencias, la suma de pequeñas inmersiones en el mundo editorial de la Venecia de los siglos XV y XVI.

Lo disfruté mucho, sobre todo por el contenido, que el autor ambienta a manera de guía turístico-cultural. Un viaje deleitable para los apasionados de los libros.

[Francesca Lorenzini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Affascinante saggio da e per chi ama il libro anche come oggetto.
E' sorprendente scoprire che nel giro di un solo secolo a Venezia sono stati inventati i tascabili, le collane, le gazzette, i periodici e i libri-game.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative. I lacked any sort of knowledge of The Serene Republic, and this book exposed me to the long gap in my education on writing between the Gutenberg Bible and 19th century literature.