Jennifer Nelson, reference librarian for the Robbins Collection, has won the prestigious Association of College and Research Libraries European Studies Section De Gruyter European Librarianship Study Grant for 2019. Her winning project, “lucundum mihi est reperiri typographum: A Case Study of an Early Modern Publishing Success Story,” is an archival study of the letters by Gian Vittorio Rossi (1577-1647) to publishers and booksellers, focusing on on his late-in-life publishing success. Rossi’s letters reveal the broad interconnected publishing landscape of the 17th century, including authors, booksellers, and readers. The project will explore how Rossi’s communication circuit between Roman booksellers and readers and his Northern European publishers are reflective of relationships and networks in the Early Modern book industry. Her project will also shed light on the publication of Rossi’s works, his pseudonyms for his friends and acquaintances, and his publishing success as a satirist.
The grant, sponsored by the Walter de Gruyter Foundation for Scholarship and Research, provides €2,500 to support a research trip to Rome to study the archives of some of Rossi’s correspondents. Jennifer Nelson will receive the award during the 2019 American Library Association’s (ALA) Annual Conference.