Celestina in Venice: Piety, Pornography, Poligrafi

Abstract

Th i se s s a yi s a contribution to the reception history of the Celestina among Span-ish-speaking,  possibly  Jewish,  editors  and  readers  living  in  Venice  in  the  late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. As such, it utilizes the methodology of the field known as history of the book to explore the circumstances of produc-tion and consumption of this cultural artifact. Who wanted to publish a Spanish-language edition of the Celestina in Venice in 1556? And who wanted to read it?   Furthermore, who might have wanted to prohibit such a book? Through careful study of prefatory matter, woodcut illustrations, lexicographical apparatus, and marginal  annotations  by  two  different  early  readers,  the  author  concludes  that answers to some of these questions may be encountered in the literary culture of the poligrafi and their dual preoccupations with piety and pornography.