Ebook: Bound in Venice

To Marco and Peter may books accompany them; "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend." -Groucho Marx; 1. Venice: Book Capital of the World; 2. Aldus Manutius, the Michelangelo of Books; 3. The First Talmud; 4. The Lost Koran; 5. Armenians and Greeks; 6. The Wind from the East; 7. Geography and War; 8. Music Publishing; 9. Cures for the Body: Medicine, Cosmetology, and Gastronomy; 10. Pietro Aretino and the Birth of the Author; 11. Decline, Come Back, and Swan Song; About the Author.;Venice in the 1500s is the mercantile and cultural capital of the world. There, the first printers, publishing houses and bookstores open for business, and thrive, finding fertile ground in the city's wealth, its freedom and high level of literacy among its cosmopolitan population. Soon half of all the books published in Europe come from Venice. Among the innovators, one remarkable visionary, Aldo Manuzio, stands head and shoulders above the rest. Credited with the invention of the Italic font and pocket editions, he is the first truly modern publisher.