Market system dynamics, “sociology of texts”, and materiality of the book: Venice and the Renaissance printing industry

The case study, between historical institutionalism and sociology of translation, faces the evolution of the press and the emergence of publishing in Venice between 1490 and 1515. Adopting a market system dynamics perspective, the book as a “cultural artefact” is the unit of analysis in this study. The investigated phenomenon revolves around the entrepreneurial experience of Aldus Manutius and the cultural dynamics of that era, while observing the interweaving of different institutional logics and the emergence of market creation processes supported by forms of institutional work.