Publishing and Writing Industry

The course will deal with the history of the book and the document in a time of substantial innovations in technologies (from the invention of movable-type, to the new technologies in paper manufacturing, to the development of computer technology and the Internet), contents (scientific-academic and university publishing, entertainment literature, newspapers and periodicals), and in the social context (spread of literacy, improvement of economic and social conditions, strong demand for the protection of rights, including political ones). These innovations involve a radical transformation in the physiognomy and use of books, documents, and the institutions that produce, collect and manage them for various reasons.