ABSTRACT
Duke Cosimo Ps patronage of artists, his support of the University of Pisa, his sponsorship of the Accademia Fiorentina and the Accademia del Disegno, and the various other cultural initiatives he sanctioned can be characterized as a programme since they all were calculated to revitalize intellectual and artistic activity in the duchy, to enhance his prestige and that of his family, and to bolster the political authority of the regime.1 It was in the general context of this effort, and more specifically to supply the university with books and the Florentine Academy with a publisher, that in 1547 Cosimo brought Lorenzo Torrentino from Bologna and installed him in Florence as his ducal printer. In this capacity, Torrentino produced about 260 editions before his death in 1563, an output that established his press, for both the quantity and the character of its titles, as one of the most important of the sixteenth century.2 Unlike contemporaries like Gabriele Giolito and
Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze. 2 For a cogent account of Torrentino's career in Florence, see Perini's 'Editori e potere in Italia/
pp. 788-800, 'Firenze e la Toscana,' pp. 441-449, and 'Editoria e societa,' pp. 280-290, which provide information on the equipment, personnel, and financing of the press, an analysis of its production by topic, and consideration of the intended public. Perini draws upon the fundamental research of Hoogewerff, 'Laurentius Torrentinus' and Maracchi Biagiarelli, 'II privilegio di stampatore ducale,' both of whom published important archival documents; Hoogewerff, 'L'editore del Vasari' is for the most part a translation into Italian of his earlier article in Dutch. The recent book by Slits, Laurentius Torrentinus, lavishly illustrated, offers the only complete study of Torrentino's career; the sections dealing with his activity prior to 1547 are especially useful since they are based on original research in the Netherlands and Bologna, whereas the sections on Florence rely for the most part on archival material previously published and on secondary sources. The second edition of Morem'sAnnali, though dated and incomplete, remains the only descriptive listing of Torrentino's production (the first edition, Annali del la tipografia fwrentina di Lorenzo Torrentino, was published in 1811 in Florence by Niccolo Carli). Moreni's introductory section remains useful for the documents it cites ('Alcune notizie riguardanti la vita, e la professione di Lorenzo Torrentino Impressore Ducale,' pp. vii-lxxxvi). See also Viola, 'Delia venuta a Firenze di Lorenzo Torrentino'; Di Filippo Bareggi, 'Giunta, Doni, Torrentino'; Ascarelli and Menato, La tipografia del '500 (pp. 235-236, 282-283, 293-294), and Bertoli, 'Contributo alia biografia di Lorenzo Torrentino.' I was not able to consult Otten, 'Laurentius
Vincenzo Valgrisi, however, Torrentino was not an independent publisher free to respond to the demands of the book market. The terms of his contract, the subsidies he received, and the peculiar conditions of publishing in Florence made him dependent upon the regime and an instrument of its ideological interests. This article will examine how the contract determined Torrentino's function in the cultural programme of Cosimo I, conditioned the fortunes of the ducal press, and influenced the character of its production.
