book publishing and the circulation of information 661
Canaletto and supplier of works of art to the British Crown, was long the
financier of Pasquali’s Venetian firm whose store-front sign, designed by
antonio Visentini, read La felicità delle lettere [the happiness of literature/
the humanities].25 the success of engravings contributed as well to the
trend of event announcements, which quickly became occasions for great
families to demonstrate their wealth and prestige.26
nor did illustrations remain the monopoly of the most expensive books.
many were the engraved frontispieces, pleasant cartoons, and anteporte
that accompanied theatrical collections in small-format editions intended
for an audience of middle-class tastes in those years in which this group
was rising in importance.
this amazing recovery continued through to the mid-18th century and
allowed the Venetian book to find its proper place once again on the
european market, particularly in the mediterranean areas, where it took
particular advantage of the weakening of historic competitors antwerp
and lyon.27 growth of exports to spain was especially consistent. in 1763,
antoine Boudet, a Parisian publisher with conspicuous interests in the
iberian peninsula, wrote that “with respect to books, spain is supplied
mainly by foreigners.” he estimated book imports to amount to 750,000
livres tournois [french money] divided among the following export cen-
ters: Venice, 46.6 per cent; rome, milan, and lucca 6.6 per cent; antwerp
26.6 per cent; lusanne, geneva, lyon, and Paris 13.3 per cent; and avignon
6.6 per cent.28 more recent studies of the spanish book have largely cor-
roborated such data through analyses of books conserved in libraries. the
old collections of the university library of santiago de Compostela show,
for example, that in the period 1700–49, 38.4 per cent of its books were
published in italy, followed by 32.9 per cent in france. Venice produced
the greatest share of books of italian provenance, 12.6 per cent to the
25 francis haskell, Patrons and Painters. A Study in the Relations between Italian Art
and Society in the Age of the Baroque (london, 1963); and frances Vivian, Il console Smith
mercante e collezionista (Vicenza, 1971).
26 see the case of the last doge lodovico manin, see dorit raines, La famiglia Manin
e la cultura libraria tra Friuli e Venezia nel ’700 (udine, 1997). on prints for special events,
see alberta Pettoello, Libri illustrati veneziani del Settecento. Le pubblicazioni d’occasione
(Venice, 2005).
27 Jacqueline roubert, “la situation de l’imprimerie lyonnaise à la fin du XViie siècle,”
in Cinq études lyonnaises (geneva, 1966), pp. 77–111.
28 Paul guinard, “le livre dans la péninsule ibérique au XViiie siècle. témoignage d’un
libraire français,” Bulletin hispanique 59 (1957), 176–98.