DOMINICAN NUNS AND THE BOOK ARTS IN RENAISSANCE FLORENCE: THE CONVENT OF SAN JACOPO DI RIPOLI, 1224-1633 (ITALY).

摘要

The bookmaking achievements of Dominican nuns at the convent of San Jacopo di Ripoli in renaissance Florence are investigated here, as both women's history and printing history. The purpose of the study was to determine the contributions of nuns to the preservation of literature, to the production and decoration of manuscripts and printed books, and to the transmission of knowledge generally. The history of Italy, the development of monasticism, the rules of the religious orders, women as nuns and sisters, and the work of scribes and early printers were examined in order to provide a background for the setting in which the women of the convent of San Jacopo di Ripoli worked.;Major findings of this study include: (1) The rules followed by the nuns of San Jacopo di Ripoli allowed for work by the nuns which contributed to the society outside the nunnery. (2) The Dominican constitutions directed nuns to copy manuscripts for religious use. (3) From 1476 to 1484 the Ripoli convent printed nearly one hundred book titles, half of which were secular works. (4) The language of publication by the Ripoli press was primarily Italian, in contrast with that of other early European printers whose works were mostly in Latin. (5) The Ripoli press met the high demand for popular religious works during their peak years of printing. (6) About one-third of the Ripoli books were decorated with colored initials, hand-applied scroll designs, illuminated miniatures, or pen and ink drawings. (7) The books printed by the Ripoli nuns were of quality comparable with other Florentine presses of that time.;Further studies are recommended in the areas of early printing by women, the libraries of early nunneries, and the work of nun-scribes.;Procedures included study of the secondary literature in each of the background fields, study of primary sources from chronicles and journals of contemporary Florence, and examination of a selected number of the works produced by the Ripoli nuns. Their book production was analyzed and compared with European book production of the same period in matters of quantity, language, subject matter, appearance, and quality of type and decoration.