The Giunti of Florence. A Renaissance Printing and Publishing Family

The Groundbreaking History and Bibliography of a Florentine Printer

This ambitious project explores the history and output of the Giunti Press in Florence, covering the firm from its beginnings in 1497 to its end in 1625, and providing descriptions of each Giunti book published with extensive indication of the libraries holding copies of each edition. In doing so, it describes the literature and history of Florence in the late Renaissance as well as the development of the Italian language within this important period of time.

Printer and publisher Aldus Manutius, founder of Aldine Press, is well known among students of Renaissance Italian literature and history. Less has been published on the Guinti. Members of the Guinti family established operations over much larger territory than the Aldine press, collectively achieving much greater financial resources. Their role in the history of Italian literature was significant and deserves an extensive review. The aim, then, of William A. Pettas' book is to tell the story of this late Renaissance Florentine printer-publisher.

Part I of the book covers all aspects of the Giunti family and the press, the nature of its output, its relationship to the governments of Florence and Tuscany, to social conditions, to the economy, to members of their own family, to their editors, and to the strictures of censorship. Names of Greek authors and editors in the 15th and 16th centuries have been cited in a transliteration of the Greek rather than the usual Western form. Libraries holding Florentine Giunti editions have been listed by country. The catalogue in Part II provides a basic description of all known editions, as well as some unsigned editions that others have attributed to the Giunti, seeking to identify as many surviving copies as possible. In addition, the book provides Giunti images, genealogical tables, a chronological list of editions by language, and a list of works cited.

William Pettas' research has focused on the Giunti family of Florence for a long time. He has published extensively on their firms in Florence, Rome, Venice, Lyon, Burgos, Salamanca, and Madrid. In researching this book, he traveled extensively to libraries with rare book collections in the US, England, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, and Greece.

William A. Pettas, The Giunti of Florence: A Renaissance Printing and Publishing Family.

A History of the Florentine Firm and a Catalogue of the Editions. New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press 2012. Available in December 2012.

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