Strangers in a Strange Land: A History of Italian-Language American Imprints, 1830-1945
James Periconi, Independent Researcher

James Periconi will discuss his book — with essays by Robert Viscusi, Francesco Durante, and Martino Marazzi — which catalogues the Italian-language book-publishing industry that began in the nineteenth century and flourished in the United States in the fifty years before World War II. This industry created and reflected a vibrant national literary and political culture among a broad spectrum of Italian Americans living and working in the United States. The publishers included the Società Libraria Italiana, or Italian Book Company — which published poet Riccardo Cordiferro and author Bernardino Ciambelli — and numerous political presses, such as Libreria Editrice dei Lavoratori Industriali del Mondo (the IWW press), for the militant socialists and anarchists of the Italian-American community.