Circolazione del libro e reti amministrative nello Stato sabaudo (1777-1844)

The book's circulation played a crucial role in shaping modern ruling classes all over Europe, even in "marginal" areas marked by a strong percentage of illiterates. This paper aims at showing the contribution given by state policies in promoting book's circulation within the Kingdom of Sardinia in the period of time between 1777 until 1844. More precisely, this paper analyses the list of subscribers of the three books that contributed the most to the “discovery” of Sardinia by other Europeans, and which are Storia di Sardegna by Michele Antonio Gazano (I-II, Cagliari 1777), Storia di Sardegna by Giuseppe Manno (I-IV, Torino 1825-27), and Storia letteraria by Giuseppe Siotto Pintor (I-III, Cagliari 1843-44). By combining the comparative analysis of these books with the data collected from archival sources, this paper also looks into how the audience of readers has changed from both a qualitative and a quantitative point of view.