La naissance d’une capitale éditoriale dans l’Europe postrévolutionnaire? Transformations et permanences du champ éditorial milanais (1790-1830)

How did publishing contribute to the construction of a city’s image and power at a time of political and social transition? This is the question addressed in this special issue, which focuses on Milan between the end of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th. A small city on the borders of the Habsburgs Empire, Milan experienced spectacular growth from 1796 onwards. It quickly became the most significant editorial centre on the peninsula. The contributions gathered here endeavour to develop a collective reflection on changes in professional practices and their impact on the construction of the city’s role in Napoleonic Europe. Beyond this case study, these pages look more broadly at the impact of cultural policies in legitimising the new regime and redefining the cultural geographies that result from it.