Memory, Family, and Self: Tuscan Family Books and Other European Egodocuments (14th-18th Century)

The family book, a kind of diary written by and about the family for its various members, was established by scholars as a genre in Italy in the 1980s. Although initially regarded as an Italian genre, the family book can also be found in other parts of Europe. Nevertheless, the genre can be traced back to Florence, where it first emerged and consequently flourished with the lavish production of such documents. This abundance springs from the social structure of the city, where such texts were essential for establishing and cultivating the basis for the social promotion of Florentine families. This book presents a reconstruction of the evolution and persistency of Tuscan family books, as well as a study of several aspects of social history, including: reading and private libraries, domestic devotion, and the memory of historical events. Starting with the Renaissance, the investigation then broadens to the 17th-18th centuries and considers other forms of memory, such as private diaries and autobiographies. A final section is dedicated to the issue of memory in the egodocuments of early modern Europe.

This book was translated by Susan Amanda George.

Giovanni Ciappelli is Associate Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Trento. His many publications on Renaissance and early modern Italy include Carnevale e Quaresima. Comportamenti sociali e cultura a Firenze nel Rinascimento (Rome 1997), Un ministro del Granducato di Toscana nell'età della Restaurazione. Aurelio Puccini (1773-1840) e le sue “Memorie” (Rome 2007), and Fisco e società a Firenze nel Rinascimento (Rome 2009). Together with Patricia Lee Rubin he has edited Art, Memory and Family in Renaissance Florence (Cambridge 2000).