Acknowledgements
The following volume is the result of a series of seminars held at the University of Eastern Piedmont (Vercelli, Italy) between 2017 and 2019 in collaboration with the University of Zurich, which brought together a group of Italian scholars as part of the international research programme ‘Natural Law 1625–1850: An International Project’ (coordinated by Frank Grunert, Knud Haakonssen and Louis Pahlow). Merio Scattola joint the project, contributing Italian perspectives on its work, until his premature and unexpected death in 2015. With our seminars and the present volume, we are honoured to continue his legacy.
The multiplicity of modern variants of natural law has merged into the numerous research itineraries contained in the chapters of this book. These essays, in addition to providing various themes and perspectives for future scientific research, are the result of the collective effort made by all the colleagues who enthusiastically joined the project: we would like to thank them most warmly, not least for their attention and patience, especially during the period marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and its restrictions.
We would also like to thank Patrizia Delpiano, Germana Gandino, Andrea Pennini, Claudio Rosso, Riccarda Suitner and Edoardo Tortarolo, who attended the seminars we organized and contributed to the preliminary discussions in preparation for the book. We are also indebted to Simone Ghelli and Emanuele Salerno, who helped to revise bibliography and footnotes, and to Ralph Footring for copy-editing the chapters.
A special thanks goes to the editors of the book series ‘Early Modern Natural Law: Studies & Sources’, particularly to Knud Haakonssen for his insightful and valuable comments, as well as to the anonymous peer reviewers for their accurate and constructive suggestions.
The text of several chapters was translated from the Italian by the following: Matthew Armistead (Chapter 4, Gabriella Silvestrini; and Chapter 9, Frédéric Ieva); Filippo Valente (Chapter 6, Serena Luzzi; and Chapter 8, Vittor Ivo Comparato); and Chiara Rotondi (Chapter 11, Giuseppina De Giudici).
The seminars and the publication of this volume have been made possible by research funds of the Department of the Humanities, University of Eastern Piedmont, and of the University of Zurich, to which grateful acknowledgement is made, but to which no responsibility is attributed.