Lesson 2: Books and Beauty in Renaissance Venice

The opening scenes of "Dangerous Beauty" begin with a beautiful, mischievous young woman in the 1500s who loved books... and boys. Her eyes were wide open, enchanted with the world around her, curious. Unrestrained.

Many historical novelists write about historical England, particularly Victorian England, and a big focus is often how women weren't supposed to be intelligent, weren't supposed to read and learn and love... weren't supposed to fully be themselves. The honest courtesans of Venice did not suffer from those ridiculous restrictions. 

Venice, in fact, might have been the best place in the world for a women who loved to read! 

Though the printing press was invented in Germany, where it really took off was Venice. Why? Venice had the money! Money meant that publishers could afford to make the books to sell, but it also meant that there was a large population of people living in comfortable circumstances in beautiful homes who had the luxury of time for learning and reading.

Venice was still intimately tied to the east at the time, and here's a story of one earnest entrepreneur who took a shot at publishing the first mass-produced Koran. The holy men of Islam were not so impressed with the effort. Read here to find out why!

https://cbphilosophy.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-story-of-venices-first-koran.html

The courtesans of Venice, of course, were also encouraged to love men... but that's for our next lesson.

What's the oldest book that you've ever read? There are many images of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts available online... What do you love most about looking at them?

Here is a beautiful old video about book binding -- this is in Dublin in the 1900s, but watching the handmade processes will help you get a feel for how it was through the ages. 

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