"Le Spectacle de la Nature"

“Le Spectacle de la Nature”. The dissemination of knowledge on natural phenomena in early Eighteenth-century Italy, by Alessia Castagnino

From the late Seventeenth century, Europe witnessed the beginnings of an important change in the paradigms of interpretation of natural phenomena. If, on one hand, scientists established innovative methods of inquiry and developed new scientific theories, on the other hand, they started thinking about ways to transmit this knowledge to a wider audience, composed not only of specialists, but also of “general” readers. This essay aims to reflect on one of the many trajectories along which similar discussions in Eighteenth-century Italy developed, namely that relating to the reception of the Spectacle the la Nature (Paris, 1732-1750), a real bestseller written by the abbé Nöel-Antoine Pluche. Drawing on theoretical and methodological approaches adopted in the Social and Cultural History of Translations, the analysis will be focused on the most relevant Italian versions of this work. The essay examines both the motivations behind the editorial projects and the strategies of textual and paratextual adaptation, seeking to understand the role played by publishers and translators in the process of circulation and re-elaboration of Pluche’s ideas on the divulgation of natural science knowledge.