Ladles, Soap, and Needles: The Popular Book in Sixteenth-Century Venice

Abstract

Printed books were present in Venice already in 1469 and quickly became one of the specialities of this city. But, with the beginning of the 16^th century, among the celebrated erudite works, classics of Latin, Tuscan, and contemporary literature, there appeared books treating practical matters, addressed to the common folk. Usually, these prints were sold not in bookshops, but from street stalls and in marketplaces. Unfortunately, these editions addressed to no particular milieu, hence, they seldom became the object of historical research. The themes treated by the authors of these publications range from cooking and food preservation to preparing homemade medicine, soap, cleaning agents, and various kinds of cosmetics. Needlework pattern books constitute a separate group among them. Not infrequent, and very interesting, these books contained works by the most distinguished artists active in Venice. Although, the content of such publications was very traditional and dealt with common activities, chiefl y performed by women, their editorial form was state-of-the-art, and boldly utilised the most developed printing techniques of the time. In result, the books in question present very interesting material for research.