A New Publishing Enterprise

A New Publishing Enterprise

In 15 years of activity, Centro Primo Levi New York has established itself as a platform through which international audiences and the academia can access resources on Italian Jewish studies and current affairs. Our website promotes the presence of Italian Jewish studies in the American academia, regularly publishing translations of classic and cutting-edge scholarship.

It has helped originate scholarly and cultural exchanges between Italy and the US as well as collaborative projects. “We see CPL EDITIONS as a natural extension of our online presence and our role in bridging the linguistic and cultural barriers between Italy and the English speaking world,” said Natalia Indrimi, executive director of the Center.

Since the invention of the printing press, publishing and printing became a thriving field for Italian Jews. The first Hebrew book was published in Reggio Calabria in 1475, and until the 19th century, the base of Jewish publishing remained in Italy. For centuries, books were the principal vehicle for the circulation of ideas, innovation and exchange in the Italian Jewish world.

This wealth of writings, spanning early medieval rabbinical scholarship to contemporary astrophysics, philosophy and fiction, has been largely unavailable in English.

“This endeavor stems from the deep conviction that the selected texts are the carriers of a precious cultural content, crucial for the understanding of past and current Italian Judaic thought,” said Alessandro Cassin, Director of Publishing at CPL Editions.

The books of CPL Editions are designed by Jonathan Wajskol and produced by O/R Books