This study sees itself as a contribution to a history of communication, with special reference to changes in the textual norms operative in one individual language in a period marked by innovations in the communication media. Italian fly sheets dating from the early age of book printing are discussed first of all in terms of the different text genres they represent and are then assigned a place in Italian language history. The integration of genre history and language history makes it possible to point the connection between the co-existence of a number of language varieties and ongoing developments in social history and the history of the media.