History of Printing and Publishing Systems

The course aims to address the theme of the recognition of the creative personality of authors, what is generically called authorship and which has been established since the eighteenth century, associated with the broadening of the book market and the recognition (first in England, then in France, and from the nineteenth century in Italy) of copyright. The course is divided into three teaching units: the first is dedicated to the construction of authorship and the laws concerning authors between the 18th and 20th centuries; the second enters into the merits of how publishing was transformed between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Italy, and the third addresses the types of mediums which transform text into a book, from institutions such as censorship to those internal to the publishing process like proofing and translating.
The teaching is fully consistent with the objectives of the Course of Studies, and in particular the publishing curriculum, which aims to ensure the acquisition of solid historical, literary and legal knowledge in the field of the production and circulation of the book, with the identification of all social actors involved in the publishing system.

Knowledge: They should be able to master the historic transformations of the Italian publishing system with a focus on the European context, and the different editorial functions in the transition from text to book; they will need to know different research methodologies, with attention to the complexity of the sources and the different types of archives (with all the possible figures and functions of publishing mediums).
Skills: The student will need to be able to analyze the historical contexts in which cultural projects and publishing activities develop; they should understand the types of sources used; they will have to be able to compare different publishing strategies through the analysis of catalogues and to demonstrate that they have a critical capacity regarding different documentary sources (memories, autobiographies, reading opinions, censored texts, etc.).