Ad utilita Pubblica : Politique des bibliotheques et pratiques du livre a Florence au XVIIIe Siecle

The landscape of Florentine libraries changed profoundly between the reign of the Medicis and the archdukes of Hapsburg-Lorraine. The opening of two public libraries, creation of specialized collections, dispersion of ecclesiastical collections and the vicissitudes of the princely library raise questions about the relationship between new forums for reading and evolutions in literary practices. Equally important is the relationship between these changes and new political practices and means of legitimation introduced by the Lorraine dynasty. This work contributes as much to the history of reading as it does to recent studies on the government of public space in eighteenth-century Italy. French text.