ABSTRACT
Bruno’s relationship with John Charlewood (d. 1593), the London printer of the Latin and Italian works published by the philosopher while in England from spring 1583 to autumn 1585, was first investigated by Giovanni Aquilecchia 40 years ago.1 Since then, however, it has been neglected by Bruno scholars. According to the principles of textual bibliography, the identification of the printer of a text, as well as the investigation of his working habits and general culture, are important for establishing, wherever possible, the degree of fidelity between the author’s manuscript (if it survives) and the various printed versions.2 Aquilecchia’s recovery of an unknown version of Bruno’s Cena de le Ceneri bearing authorial variations (or partial versions) occurring on sheet D, provides evidence of developments in his contacts with the Elizabethan court during the printing of the work.3 If these revisions, as Aquilecchia has argued, fit into a consistent pattern,4
then we are perhaps justified in assuming that Charlewood was not only aware that Bruno favoured the champions of the Puritan cause at court against the moderate Protestantism espoused by Cecil – a shift in
1 Aquilecchia, G. (1993), ‘Lo stampatore londinese di Giordano Bruno e altre note per l’edizione della Cena’ [1960], in Schede bruniane (1950-1991), Manziana (Roma): Vecchiarelli, pp. 157-207.
