Anonymity in Eighteenth-Century Italian Publishing

This book focuses on the different forms in which authorship came to be expressed in eighteenth-century Italian publishing. It analyses both the affirmation of the “author function”, and, above all, its paradoxical opposite: the use of anonymity, a centuries-old practice present everywhere in Europe but often neglected by scholarship. The reasons why authors chose to publish their works anonymously were manifold, including prudence, fear of censorship, modesty, fear of personal criticism, or simple divertissement. In many cases, it was an ethical choice, especially for ecclesiastics. The Italian case provides a key perspective on the study of anonymity in the European context, contributing to the analysis of an overlooked topic in academic studies. Lodovica Braida is Professor of History of the Book at the University of Milan, Italy. Her work is devoted to the history of written culture and reading practices in early modernEurope, particularly in Italy, in a perspective of sociocultural history that dialogues with bibliography, literary criticism, and intellectual history.