venetian literature and publishing 623
norms. by this time, the popular publishing industry, both above-board
and clandestine, that developed in Venice because of the republic’s tol-
erance of a wide range of views (except those politically dangerous to it)
made it possible for a man of letters to earn a living by his writings, not by
royalties, which were paid to publishers until 1545, but by gaining patrons.
these conditions gave rise to a new category of writer, the poligrafo, who,
as the name suggests, wrote in all kinds of genres to appeal to as wide a
public as possible. Many of the poligrafi active in Venice in these decades
came from outside, attracted by these opportunities. Characteristic was
anton Francesco doni, author of romances and epics that criticized the
intellectual and political establishment of other states of the italian pen-
insula for their poor government and injustice.8
Fantasy and linguistic ebullience in creative tension with an almost
documentary realism and the longing to return to a better past contin-
ued for another two decades to pour forth in a stream of popular letters,
romances, novels, epics, and plays. Collections of letters were particularly
favored by the Venetian public because of their importance to merchants
and their concern with real-life events. among the most important of this
period was that of alvise (Luigi) da Porto relating his experiences in the
wars. his translation of the war’s tensions into the novella of romeo and
Juliet was typical of the centrality of the wars to the period’s literature,
which also contributed to the works of other participants such as Marco
guazzo.
stringing together episodes of manly heroes and swooning maidens,
works in these genres blended realistic references and elements of fantasy
into an amalgam that provided entertainment, the possibility of believing
that more powerful forces could be defeated, and a recognition that a
feudal system, the holy roman empire, had won the wars. epitomizing
the trend, ariosto’s Furioso was so popular that it prompted the writing
of a prequel by Ludovico dolce and translations into dialects including
even one aimed at boari [cowherds]. novels featured erotic and heroic
elements that frequently involved exotic travel, cross-dressing especially
by girls, kidnapped or otherwise lost loves, passionate love, consoling
friends, palaces, and delightful gardens. a favorite device was agnizione
or the recognition that a character believed to be lowborn was actually
8 see giovanni aquilecchia, “Pietro aretino e altri poligrafi a Venezia,” in SCV 3.2, pp.
61–98; Paul F. grendler, Critics of the Italian World, 1530–1560: Anton Francesco Doni, Nicolò
Franco and Ortensio Lando (Madison, 1969).