The Throb of the Cinematograph

This book assembles 60 texts on cinema that appeared in Italy between 1896 and 1922, most of which are printed here in English translation for the first time.¹ The texts are quite varied in nature: editorials from daily newspapers; essays from illustrated magazines; commentaries in film journals; medical and scientific reports; and fictional stories. The attitudes expressed within them are likewise quite varied: some pieces interrogate cinema from the standpoint of its novelty; others express perplexity, seeing it as a threat to established values; others still are descriptions and reflections from critics, screenwriters, and directors interested in understanding how cinema