Synopses & Reviews
Venetian music print culture of the mid-sixteenth century is presented here through a study of the Scotto press, one of the foremost dynastic music publishers of the Renaissance. For over a century, the house of Scotto played a pivotal role in the international book trade, publishing in a variety of fields including philosophy, medicine, religion, and music. This book examines the mercantile activities of the firm through both a historical study, which illuminates the wide world of the Venetian music printing industry, and a catalog, which details the music editions brought out by the firm during its most productive period. A valuable reference work, this book not only enhances our understanding of the socioeconomic and cultural history of Renaissance Venice, it also helps to preserve our knowledge of a vast musical repertory.
Review
"Jane Bernstein's Music Printing in Renaissance Venice: The Scotto Press (1539-1572) is a masterly work that furnishes at last a comprehensive study of one of the most significant music printers in Renaissance Venice, Girolamo Scotto. . . . At every turn, Bernstein's book shows a delightful zeal for empirical observation, careful argumentation, painstaking standards of scholarship, and a detective's eye in revisiting existing evidence. . . . Bernstein offers up a wealth of evidence with infectious curiosity and vivacity. Music Printing in Renaissance Venice won a richly deserved Kinkeldey award from the American Musicological Society for the best book published in musicology in the year 1998, and it should get a standing ovation from her readers for its sheer quality and quantity of research. . . . Bernstein has carried off a gigantic feat of scholarship with precision, intelligence, and spirit."--Renaissance Quarterly