Griselini - Memorie Anedote - 1760

GRISELINI AND VENEZIAN ILLUMINATION: MEMOIRS AND ANECDOTES BETWEEN HISTORY AND POLITICS
The Memoire anedote by Francesco Griselini, printed in 1760, represents a significant testimony of Venetian Enlightenment culture in the second half of the eighteenth century. The work fits into the lively editorial landscape of the Serenissima, characterized by a scholarly and historical production attentive to political, economic and scientific current affairs. The edition bears the typographic indication “In Losana,” but it was actually printed in Venice, at Giovanni Nestenus and associates, in accordance with a publishing practice not infrequently used in the eighteenth century, sometimes aimed at evading censorship or giving the work an aura of internationality.
MARKET VALUE
The eighteenth-century Venetian editions of Enlightenment area, in first issue and in contemporary binding, present a stable collecting interest. Copies in good condition, complete and without invasive restorations, generally fall in a range between 200 and 500 euros, with possible variations depending on the rarity of the edition, the freshness of the paper and the quality of the binding. The presence of the contemporary parchment decorated in dry-stamping constitutes a significant qualitative element, positively affecting the valuation.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary parchment binding in rigid format, with dry-stamped decorations on the boards, arranged in a frame and with linear ornamental motifs. Spine with title impressed in gold on a label. Marbleized edges. Frontispiece with figure. Handwritten notes. In ancient books, with a centuries-long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 40; 368, (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Memorie anedote.
Losana, appresso Giovanni Nestenus e Comp., 1760.
Griselini Francesco.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Francesco Griselini (1717–1787) was a multifaceted figure: literary man, naturalist, economist and popularizer. A participant in the Venetian reform atmosphere, he collaborated with intellectual circles sensitive to the demands of European Enlightenment. The Memoorie anedote belong to the strand of historical-political-moral publicism, a genre that in the eighteenth century contributed to the circulation of reformist ideas and to the formation of a cultivated public opinion. The fictitious indication of Lausanne reflects a widespread practice in the publishing industry of the time, sometimes connected to censorial or commercial dynamics. The sober yet elegant parchment decorated in dry-stamping expresses the eighteenth-century taste for a functional binding but not devoid of aesthetic dignity, typical of editions destined for an educated but not necessarily aristocratic audience.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
In 1760 Venetian printing activity was still among the liveliest in Europe. Works of historical-political character circulated in urban intellectual circles and in the academic circuits of the peninsula. The sometimes-fictitious typographic indications today constitute an interesting bibliographic element, useful for studying the diffusion and reception of Enlightenment ideas.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Edit16 – National census of Italian editions of the XVI century (for methodological comparisons).
ICCU/OPAC SBN – Records relating to Griselini’s 1760 editions.
Studies on Venetian publishing of the eighteenth century and on the Lagunarian Enlightenment production.