‘Come parto imperfetto’: Paratexts and organization in a sixteenth‐century book of secrets

Abstract

AbstractThis essay addresses the Secreti diversi et miracolosi, one of the many ‘books of secrets’ (collections of medical and craft recipes) which crowded the sixteenth‐century Venetian book market. First published in 1563 and spuriously ascribed to the physician Gabriele Falloppia, this book was already subject to significant structural changes in its second edition (1565). The editors of the first and second editions, Giovanni Antonio Di Maria and Borgaruccio Borgarucci, discussed their respective choices concerning the arrangement of the collection in their prefatory letters. This essay examines the prefatory and organizational paratexts of both editions, which reveal a tension between the readability of the book and the reliability of its contents. It argues that the different paratextual strategies pursued by Di Maria and Borgarucci had a profound impact on the contours of ‘Falloppia’’s literary identity, the functions envisioned for the collection, and the epistemological value of the recipes therein. The editorial history of the Secreti diversi also prompts broader considerations on the popularity of books of secrets, showing how this was not only a matter of content but also, and often more importantly, how that content was presented to the readers.