CONFINI TESTUALI DEL CINQUECENTO: GLI ESORDI DEI TRATTATI RINASCIMENTALI

The paper suggests a number of criteria for the classification of proems taken from thirty 16th-century treatises belonging to various typologies. The aim is to identify recurrent patterns, and establish correlations between type, subject matter and form of the treatise on the one hand, and syntactic and textual features of the proem on the other. findings reveal that syntax is the principal distinguishing trait. With the exception of specific authors or works, standardization seems to characterize the field. differently from other parts of the text, proems also display a larger use of rhetorical devices, resulting in a higher degree of syntactic complexity.