Sibling rivalry. Honor, ambition, and identity in the printing trade in early modern Milan

Kevin M. STEVENS, Sibling rivalry : honor, ambition, and identity in the printing trade in early modern Milan, p. 107-122. We are used to thinking of Renaissance printers as mechanical figures working in a highly regimented workplace governed solely by the economics of paper, ink, and type, and ruled by the grimy rationale of print-for-profit and destroy the competition. This essay captures another side of that picture. It shows the equally stringent economy of honor, ambition and professional identity in business negotiations revealed by the complex process of notarial writing. The notary’s shop provided a crucial setting where – in the presence of friends, business associates, and family members – written language settled rivalries, established notions of status and hierarchy, and articulated the pursuit of honor, reputation and ambition.Stevens Kevin. Sibling rivalry. Honor, ambition, and identity in the printing trade in early modern Milan. In: Mélanges de l'École française de Rome. Italie et Méditerranée, tome 115, n°1. 2003. Représentation et identité en Italie et en Europe (XVe–XIXe siècle) pp. 107-122