Libreria Editrice Fiorentina

Libreria Editrice Fiorentina (LEF) is an Italian publishing house and bookstore based in Florence, founded in 1902 around the group of the Florentine magazine La Bandiera del popolo. It was established by a group of young Catholic activists inspired by Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Graves de communi re, under the patronage of Swiss entrepreneur and intellectual Rodolfo Arnoldo Bürgisser and the Archbishop of Florence, Alfonso Maria Mistrangelo. The founding partners included Rodolfo Arnoldo Bürgisser, Gaetano Bruscoli, Giuseppe Faraoni, the Torricelli brothers (Cesare, Andrea, Paolo), Giovan Battista Mondada, Guido Donati and others. From the outset, LEF combined publishing and bookselling in a single location, specializing in Catholic, theological, and liturgical works, as well as philosophical and sociological titles. In its early years, under the direction of Tito Dini, it published works of biblical history and criticism, social and philosophical doctrine (with Agostino Gemelli and the Rivista di filosofia neoscolastica as points of reference), and apologetics. Notable early publications include J.A.G. Hergenröther's Storia universale della Chiesa (1904), S. Delehaye's Le leggende agiografiche (1906), F. Scerbo's Dizionario Ebraico e Caldaico (1912), Giuseppe Toniolo's Trattato di Economia sociale (1907–1921), and Jacopo da Varagine's Legenda Aurea (1924–26). After changes in management and ownership, Giovanni Papini joined LEF as a partner, launching the series I libri della fede and publishing his essay Dante vivo (1933). A new group formed around figures such as Piero Bargellini, Carlo Farsetti, Nicola Lisi, Carlo Betocchi, Pietro Parigi, Tito Casini, and Guido Manacorda, who in 1929 founded the magazine Il Frontespizio (later transferred to Vallecchi) and the Lunario infallibile per l'anno 1930. After 1930, LEF went through a period of crisis due to further ownership changes, internal division between its two locations (Via del Corso and Via Ricasoli, the latter becoming its seat in 1942 under Vittorio Zani), difficulties under the Fascist regime (which suppressed Giorgio La Pira's magazine Principi in 1939), and the onset of war. In the postwar period, LEF at Via Ricasoli resumed its role as a meeting place and forum for debate, often attended by future Florence mayor Giorgio La Pira, who published with LEF: Premesse della politica (1945), L'attesa della povera gente (1951), I colloqui alla Badia (1989), and La Badia (1992). Another defining author, who stirred much controversy in Catholic and non-Catholic circles for the radical nature of his positions on school, modern society, military service, and the Church, was Don Lorenzo Milani. LEF published his Esperienze pastorali (1958), L'obbedienza non è più una virtù (1965–66), Lettera a una professoressa (1967), Il Catechismo (1983), Una Lezione alla scuola di Barbiana (2004), and La parola fa eguali (2005). In the 1960s, the brothers Vittorio and Valerio Zani took over the publishing house and continued its editorial line, publishing works by significant Florentine and Tuscan figures such as don Nistri, don Facibeni, don Bensi, Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa, Divo Barsotti, and Fioretta Mazzei, while also launching new series in education and pedagogy (I libri di Corea, edited by Alfredo Nesi and Mario Gozzini, and other books by students and teachers of pedagogical research), Tuscan and peasant popular traditions (Mezzi scudi and Passato/Presente, edited by Guglielmo Amerighi), natural agriculture (Quaderni di Ontignano, edited by Giannozzo Pucci, which included Masanobu Fukuoka's La rivoluzione del filo di paglia), and theology (Ricerca del Graal, edited by Giovanni Vannucci, which gathered documents of universal spirituality including works by Mohandas Gandhi and Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki).

The Libreria Editrice Fiorentina (LEF) was formed in 1902 around the group of the Florentine magazine La Bandiera del popolo, founded in 1901 by a group of young Catholic militants inspired by Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Graves de communi re and under the patronage of Swiss entrepreneur and intellectual Rodolfo Arnoldo Bürgisser and the Archbishop of Florence, Alfonso Maria Mistrangelo. The founding partners included Rodolfo Arnoldo Bürgisser, Gaetano Bruscoli, Giuseppe Faraoni, the brothers Cesare, Andrea, and Paolo Torricelli, Giovan Battista Mondada, Guido Donati, and others. From the beginning, LEF was characterized as a meeting point, combining publishing and bookselling activities in the same location. It specialized in Catholic, theological, and liturgical works, as well as philosophical and sociological ones. During its early years, under the direction of Tito Dini, LEF's publishing initiatives were dedicated to works of biblical history and criticism, books of social and philosophical doctrine (with Agostino Gemelli and the Rivista di filosofia neoscolastica as a point of reference for a period), and apologetics books. Among the most important publications: J.A.G. Hergenröther, Storia universale della Chiesa (1904); S. Delehaye, Le leggende agiografiche (1906); F. Scerbo, Dizionario Ebraico e Caldaico (1912); Giuseppe Toniolo, Trattato di Economia sociale (1907–1921); Jacopo da Varagine, Legenda Aurea (1924–26). After some changes in management and ownership, Giovanni Papini joined LEF as a partner, inaugurating the series I libri della fede and publishing the essay Dante vivo (1933). A new group formed around figures such as Piero Bargellini, Carlo Farsetti, Nicola Lisi, Carlo Betocchi, Pietro Parigi, Tito Casini, and Guido Manacorda, who in 1929 founded the magazine Il Frontespizio (later transferred to the publisher Vallecchi) and the Lunario infallibile per l'anno 1930. After 1930, LEF went through a period of crisis and disarray, due in part to further ownership changes and internal division between its two locations of Via del Corso and Via Ricasoli (the new seat from 1942 under the direction of Vittorio Zani), but also to difficulties linked to the Fascist regime (which, for example, suppressed the magazine Principi founded by Giorgio La Pira in 1939) and the onset of war. In the postwar period, LEF at Via Ricasoli resumed its role as a cenacle and place of meetings and debates, often attended by the future mayor of Florence Giorgio La Pira, who published with LEF: Premesse della politica (1945); L'attesa della povera gente (1951); I colloqui alla Badia (1989); La Badia (1992). Another author who characterized the publishing house, also stirring much controversy in Catholic and non-Catholic circles for the radical nature of his positions (for example regarding school, modern society, military service, but also the Church), was Don Lorenzo Milani, of whom LEF published: Esperienze pastorali (1958); L'obbedienza non è più una virtù (1965–66); Lettera a una professoressa (1967); Il Catechismo (1983); Una Lezione alla scuola di Barbiana (2004); La parola fa eguali (2005). In the 1960s, the brothers Vittorio and Valerio Zani took over the publishing house and continued the old editorial line, publishing writings by relevant figures of the Florentine and Tuscan scene such as don Nistri, don Facibeni, don Bensi, Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa, Divo Barsotti, Fioretta Mazzei, but also inaugurating new series in the field of didactics and education (I libri di Corea, edited by Alfredo Nesi and Mario Gozzini, and other books written by students and teachers of pedagogical and didactic research), in the field of Tuscan and peasant popular traditions (Mezzi scudi and Passato/Presente, edited by Guglielmo Amerighi), the natural agriculture series Quaderni di Ontignano edited by Giannozzo Pucci (among whose titles is La rivoluzione del filo di paglia by Masanobu Fukuoka); finally the theological series Ricerca del Graal edited by Giovanni Vannucci, which gathered documents of universal spirituality including the works of Mohandas Gandhi, Mohan Mala (1983), and Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, La formazione del monaco buddista Zen (1984). The publishing house continues its editorial activity under the direction of Giannozzo Pucci, who has maintained its Catholic inspiration as well as its social and ecological commitment and interest in popular traditions. In 2004, LEF launched the magazine L'ecologist italiano, creating the Italian editorial office of the English magazine The Ecologist founded by Edward Goldsmith.

• 2005

  Publication of Don Lorenzo Milani's La parola fa eguali

• 2004

  Launch of L'ecologist italiano magazine and publication of Una Lezione alla scuola di Barbiana

• 1992

  Publication of Giorgio La Pira's La Badia

• 1989

  Publication of Giorgio La Pira's I colloqui alla Badia

• 1984

  Publication of Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki's La formazione del monaco buddista Zen

• 1983

  Publication of Mohandas Gandhi's Mohan Mala and Don Lorenzo Milani's Il Catechismo

• 1967

  Publication of Lettera a una professoressa

• 1965

  Publication of Don Lorenzo Milani's L'obbedienza non è più una virtù (1965–66)

• 1958

  Publication of Don Lorenzo Milani's Esperienze pastorali

• 1951

  Publication of Giorgio La Pira's L'attesa della povera gente

• 1945

  Publication of Giorgio La Pira's Premesse della politica

• 1942

  New seat at Via Ricasoli under Vittorio Zani

• 1939

  Fascist regime suppresses Giorgio La Pira's magazine Principi

• 1933

  Giovanni Papini publishes Dante vivo with LEF

• 1930

  Publication of Lunario infallibile per l'anno 1930

• 1929

  Group around LEF founds Il Frontespizio magazine

• 1924

  Publication of Jacopo da Varagine's Legenda Aurea (completed 1926)

• 1912

  Publication of Scerbo's Dizionario Ebraico e Caldaico

• 1907

  Start of publication of Toniolo's Trattato di Economia sociale (completed 1921)

• 1906

  Publication of Delehaye's Le leggende agiografiche

• 1904

  Publication of Hergenröther's Storia universale della Chiesa

• 1902

  Libreria Editrice Fiorentina founded around the magazine group

• 1901

  La Bandiera del popolo magazine founded by young Catholic militants

A small independent Catholic publishing house and bookstore promoting deep ecological culture, active stewardship of creation, and exit from consumer society, under the direction of Giannozzo Pucci.

• Lettera a una professoressa

  By Scuola di Barbiana, a seminal text on education

• La rivoluzione del filo di paglia

  By Masanobu Fukuoka, on natural farming

• Esperienze pastorali

  By Don Lorenzo Milani

• L'obbedienza non è più una virtù

  By Don Lorenzo Milani

• Legenda Aurea

  By Jacopo da Varagine

• La nuova agricoltura contadina

  By AA.VV., Giannozzo Pucci, Salvatore Ceccarelli, Vandana Shiva

1. 1Libreria Editrice Fiorentina official websitelef.firenze.it
2. 2Chi siamo - LEFlef.firenze.it
3. 3Libreria Editrice Fiorentina - Wikipedia (Italian)it.wikipedia.org
4. 4Libreria editrice fiorentina - Wikidatawikidata.org