The history of printing seen by Elizabeth L. Eisenstein in <em>Divine art, infernal machine</em>

Abstract

In her last book Divine art, infernal machine. The reception of printing in the west from first impressions to be sense of an ending Elizabeth Eisenstein – already known in Italy for her previous works on the early days of printing – has further widened her research field by investigating diverse source materials: historical, literary, scientific and iconographic. Treading on the chronological path indicated by her book, the paper describes the most significant steps, personalities and peculiarities involved in the circulation of printed products and in the evolution of publishing within the western hemisphere, underlining the most significant and relevant phenomenons of each phase. Catching just a few of the most intriguing and original junctions, this synthetic and schematic picture is meant to address not just to specialists, but also to a wider and diversified audience.