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.

The first comprehensive guide to women's promotion and use of textual culture, in manuscript and print, in Renaissance Italy.

About the Author
Brian Richardson is Emeritus Professor of Italian Language at the University of Leeds. He is the author of Manuscript Culture in Renaissance Italy (Cambridge, 2009), Printers, Writers and Readers in Renaissance Italy (Cambridge, 1999) and Print Culture in Renaissance Italy (Cambridge, 1994).


Book Information
ISBN 9781108477697
Author Brian Richardson
Format Hardback
Page Count 294
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 610g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 158mm * 18mm