QUALITY PUBLISHING - The art of books
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območje : Verona |
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kategorija : traditional craftmanship |
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Superb professionalism and excellent plant make Verona one of Europe\'s main centres in the graphic arts industry, especially for printing art books - precious testimony of enterprise that has survived fashions and times thanks to the dedication and ingenuity of major cultural figures such as Mardersteig, who takes the merit of having turned Verona into the \"capital of art books”.
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On the strength of experience with Officina Bodoni founded in Lugano, Giovanni Mardersteig set up Stamperia Valdonega in Verona in 1948 (taking its name from the suburb where the first, small building of the company was located).The history of publishing in Verona – and here brief mention should be made of several significant episodes such as the merger in 1917 between Mondadori and Tipografia di Verona Gaetano Franchini (giving rise to the company named Stabilimenti Tipo-Litografici Editoriali A. Mondadori.) or the creation in the late 1950s of the San Zeno Salesian School of Graphic Arts – benefited positively from this event.
Tipografia Mardersteig is a fine example of success based on the value of excellence, specialising in the art reproduction sector where there were few newcomers in the Italian graphic arts industry, seeking to satisfy the needs of a niche market of bibliophiles and lovers of fine books.
Mardersteig began operations with a machine for in-house casting of moving type and some Monotype and flat cylinder presses. He signed important contracts in Italy with Riccardo Ricciardi, Editrice Antenore, Adelphi, Sansoni and, internationally, with Collins Publishers, Folio Society, Tauchnitz Editino and many other important publishers that found in this small business the necessary humus for products of incomparably high quality. In 1984, the Metropolitan Museum of New York dedicated an exhibition to the company - The Mardersteigs’ Work in the Stamperia Valdonega; such prestigious recognition was followed in 1991 by the organisation of a second exhibition by the Grolier Club. With an unchanged spirit, the company saw important changes over the last twenty years: the “Stamperia” was transferred to Arbizzano and then sought to upgrade its role on the quality book publishing market by initiating collaboration relationships with other companies while ideally continuing along the route defined by the founder and stimulating, among other things, the creation of new realities.
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