670 mario infelise
of the printing press there had existed an ample production of fliers and
other printed sheets whose circulation was ensured by the most varied
social characters.41 those decades witnessed a particular experimenta-
tion with vernacular texts, such that the dynamism of the printing press
contributed to higher literacy rates and the establishment of a linguistic
canon for literary tuscan.42 indeed, in this area more than elsewhere, the
consequences of increased ecclesiastical control determined by the Coun-
cil of trent would be felt, and such measures ended up penalizing, above
all, written works in the spoken language. the prohibition of vernacular
bibles was merely the most visible episode of this trend. Publishers soon
adapted to the new climate and modified their catalogues so as to be in
harmony with the spirit of trent, most obviously in the new prevalence
of devotional works. such a situation clearly emerges from the remon-
dini’s catalogue of libri da risma as reconstructed by laura Carnelos. they
constitute the italian equivalent of the english chapbooks or the french
Bibliothèque bleue, and their persistence over time provides evidence
with which to trace the most-used texts in families of every social group.43
directions of research in this area, nonetheless, are many. in the early
modern period too, for example, texts could be combined with images to
create products of popular consumption. sabrina minuzzi has been able
to wander through the shop of an “average” bookseller with the help of
an extraordinary late 17th-century inventory. she has thus recomposed
the surprising and forgotten universe of texts and images that animated
the Venice of the time, and reconstructed from the ground up the system
of cultural consumption in the years of the european crisis of conscience,
as well as the many possible combinations of prints, fliers, books, and
objects that might have colored the collective imaginary.44
scholarship has now developed its sensibilities to the extent that the
peculiarity of Venice and its territory are no longer the center of attention;
41 rosa salzberg, “the lyre, the Pen and the Press: Performers and Cheap Print in
Cinquecento Venice,” in Pon and kallendorf, eds., The Book of Venice. Il Libro Veneziano,
pp. 251–76.
42 on the contribution of the Venetian publishers to the establishment of the literary
vernacular, see Paolo trovato, Con ogni diligenza corretto. La stampa e le revisioni editoriali
dei testi letterari italiani (1470–1570) (Bologna, 1991). in more popular material, of interest
is the case of niccolò Zoppino: luigi severi, Sitibondo nel stampar de’ libri. Niccolò Zoppino
tra lingua volgare, letteratura cortigiana e questione della lingua (manziana, 2009).
43 laura Carnelos, I libri da risma. Catalogo delle edizioni Remondini a larga diffusione
(1650–1850) (milan, 2007).
44 sabrina minuzzi, Il secolo di carta. Antonio Bosio artigiano di testi e immagini nella
Venezia del Seicento (milan, 2009).