Autorentext

Silvia Valisa is associate professor of Italian Studies at Florida State University.

Klappentext

The Milan-based publishing firm Sonzogno was an essential yet historically overlooked cultural player in nineteenth-century Italy. Positioning Sonzogno as both exceptional in its commercial success and emblematic of an entire cultural landscape, The Periodical Life of Modernity investigates the emergence of modern print culture in Italy and underscores the significance of periodicity as a key lens for understanding this transformative period.

Combining archival research, media studies, digital humanities tools, and a historical approach to ideas, technologies, and texts, The Periodical Life of Modernity illustrates how Sonzogno helped establish Italian print modernity, contributing to a new professional role for the publisher, a reconfiguration of the notion of news and of the role of readers in the public sphere, an aggressive interaction with the international print market, and an exponential development of the musical publishing business.

Analyzing the extraordinary output of Sonzogno’s Stabilimento – from illustrated book series to satirical weeklies, from national dailies to musical collections – The Periodical Life of Modernity offers a new understanding of the role of commercial publishers within Italian culture, as well as a critical discussion on what accessibility, democratization, and the "popular" really mean.

Inhalt

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. "With the Utmost Diligence": Giambattista Sonzogno’s Raccolta de’ viaggi (1815–1832) and the Birth of an editore

2. "All that Could be Useful, Instructive or Comforting": L’emporio Pittoresco and the Rising Power of Periodicals in Mid-Nineteenth Century Italy

3. The Periodical Life of Modernity: Il Secolo and the Creation of a New Information Industry

4. Fast Paper: Sonzogno’s Biblioteche and the Transnational Politics of the Feuilleton

5. Settling Scores: Sonzogno’s (First) Century

   Conclusion: The Periodical Life of the Digital

   Bibliography

   Index