AQ - Book Trade and Publishing

1996

AQ-96-2/3 -- Book Trade and Publishing

96-2/3-176

Storia dell'editoria d'Europa [History of Publishing in Europe]. Ed. Luisa Bonolis [et al.]. Firenze: Shakespeare and Company Futura. 25 cm. Lit. 1,000,000 (vol. 1-6); vol. 7 priced separately. (Shakespeare and Company, Borgo Sarchiani 85, I-50026 San Casciano Val di Pesa)

Vol. 2. Italia. 1995. xv, 885 p. ill. ISBN 88-900090-0-4: Lit. 200,000

The first volume of this work received a very negative review in IFB 94-3/4-415. Volume 2 focuses on Italian publishing, giving the publisher what might be called a homecourt advantage. Its first part contains essays linking Italian publishing, often very loosely, to 20th century literary criticism, literary prizes, and the history of books. Further sections dwell on cultural relations with France, Slavic countries, the USA and German-speaking countries, the fields of physics, psychoanalysis, and architecture/urban planning, the literary forms of religious books, children's and young adult literature, crime fiction, science fiction, women's literature, and comics, finally electronic publications. There is a separate section of color illustrations. There is no mention of sources in Part 1. Part 2 of this volume profiles 103 Italian publishing houses, large and small. The articles, evidently the work of freelance writers who worked with material made available to them by the publishers about whom they were writing, are accompanied by photographs of the publishers, important authors, publishing houses, and dust jackets. Part 2 lacks references to published historical publishers' catalogs and bibliographies, of which there is an abundance in Italy. A name index is included. Although descriptions of such a large number of Italian publishers cannot be found in any other single source, this second volume, like the first, lacks a sense of unity and clear purpose, and gives rise to considerable reservations. [sh/rm]

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