Dario Flaccovio Editore

Dario Flaccovio Editore is an Italian independent publishing house founded in Palermo in 1980 by Dario Flaccovio and Marisa Dolcemascolo, two booksellers who had opened a specialised technical bookshop in the city in 1972. The publishing project grew directly out of that bookshop experience: close contact with professional and specialist readers led the founders to create a catalogue of technical manuals and essays that generalist Italian publishers largely ignored. The first titles, published in 1980, were 'Tecniche costruttive e risparmio energetico' by Luigi Caleca and Antonio Cottone and 'Analisi sismica di edifici in cemento armato' by Kiyoshi Muto, both representative of the house's early focus on civil engineering and construction. The catalogue is organised into several editorial lines. The core is technical and professional publishing, with particular strength in civil engineering, geotechnics, geology, architecture, structural and environmental topics, safety, and cadastral matters. The house also publishes manuals bundled with low-cost technical software, a tradition that began in 1983 with the 'Programmi in BASIC' series, later renamed Book&Floppy and then CD Book. Alongside this, Dario Flaccovio Editore maintains a list of books on Sicily and Palermo, on art, architecture and Sicilian folklore, and since 2004 has published fiction through the Gialloteca (crime and noir) and Tempora (Italian and foreign narrative) imprints. More recent lines include Web Book, dedicated to digital communication, e-commerce and web marketing, and titles on contemporary culture and business. The company is based in Palermo and sells throughout Italy through bookshops, its own e-commerce site and direct channels. It is one of the few Italian publishers that still keeps editing, typesetting and graphic design in-house. Beyond publishing, it runs professional training courses, webinars and seminars across Italy, often led by its own authors, and operates a loyalty programme called VirTuaCard. In 2005 founder Dario Flaccovio received the Premio della cultura from the information and publishing department of the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers. The house remains privately owned and independent.

The origins of Dario Flaccovio Editore lie in a bookshop opened in 1972 by Dario Flaccovio and Marisa Dolcemascolo in what was then a peripheral neighbourhood of Palermo. The couple were innovative booksellers: they removed the counter separating customers from staff, favoured horizontal shelving at human height, and displayed books on separate tables accessible to everyone. The shop specialised early in technical subjects, setting it apart from the generalist bookshops of the city. Close contact with loyal specialist customers gave rise to the idea of an editorial brand that could reach the homes of professional readers, particularly in engineering and architecture. In 1980 Dario Flaccovio decided to become a publisher. The first books, 'Tecniche costruttive e risparmio energetico' by Luigi Caleca and Antonio Cottone and 'Analisi sismica di edifici in cemento armato' by Kiyoshi Muto, established a manual-and-essay identity and addressed topics little covered in Italian-language technical literature. From the outset the house also published books on Sicily and Palermo, on art, architecture and Sicilian folklore. Three years later, in 1983, the publisher launched a series dedicated to technical software, 'Programmi in BASIC', whose first volume sold 6,000 copies in two years. The series was later renamed Book&Floppy and then CD Book, reflecting changes in storage media. In 2000 the founders decided to sell their two bookshops in order to concentrate exclusively on publishing. In 2004 the house added fiction to its catalogue with two series: Gialloteca, for crime and noir novels, and Tempora, for Italian and foreign narrative. In 2005 founder Dario Flaccovio received the Premio della cultura from the information and publishing department of the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers. The publisher has continued to expand its technical list into areas such as geotechnics, geology, environmental topics, safety and cadastral matters, and has built a substantial geotechnics series that includes translations of authoritative international works. It is one of the few Italian publishing houses that still carries out proofreading, typesetting and graphic design internally. It is also active in professional updating, organising courses and seminars throughout Italy on current topics with sector experts, and it operates an online store, webinars and a loyalty programme, VirTuaCard. Recent catalogue additions include the Web Book series on digital communication, e-commerce and web marketing, and titles on contemporary culture and business.

• 2005

  Founder Dario Flaccovio receives the Premio della cultura from the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

• 2004

  The house launches two fiction series: Gialloteca (crime and noir) and Tempora (Italian and foreign narrative).

• 2000

  The founders sell their two bookshops to focus exclusively on publishing.

• 1983

  Launch of the 'Programmi in BASIC' series of technical software manuals; the first volume sells 6,000 copies in two years.

• 1980

  The publishing house is founded in Palermo; the first titles include 'Tecniche costruttive e risparmio energetico' and 'Analisi sismica di edifici in cemento armato'.

• 1972

  Dario Flaccovio and Marisa Dolcemascolo open a bookshop in a peripheral neighbourhood of Palermo, specialising in technical books.

Independent Italian publisher of technical and professional literature, with a strong regional identity rooted in Palermo and Sicily, combining specialist engineering and architecture manuals with cultural and narrative publishing.

• Tecniche costruttive e risparmio energetico

• Analisi sismica di edifici in cemento armato

• Programmi in BASIC series

• Gialloteca series

• Tempora series

• Web Book series

1. 1Dario Flaccovio Editore - official websitedarioflaccovio.it
2. 2Chi siamo - Dario Flaccovio Editoredarioflaccovio.it
3. 3Travel Communication Design - Dario Flaccovio Editoredarioflaccovio.it
4. 4Dario Flaccovio Editore - Wikipedia (Italian)it.wikipedia.org
5. 5S.F. Flaccovio editore - Wikidatawikidata.org