Correggere per dar piacere al mondo : Anton Francesco Doni e le varianti

An example of Anton Francesco Doni's extraordinary ability to reshape his own compositions and those of others is examined: a letter by him which was published in four different versions between 1544 and 1552. The aim is twofold: first, to show how the changes on the pages given to the printer were effected and, secondly, to reveal the author's motives which lay behind the changes. What the analysis shows is that Doni was motivated less by literary scruples than by the particular circumstances of the relationship with his readers. [Publisher's text]