Stamperia Valdonega

Stamperia Valdonega is an Italian printing house and publishing brand founded in 1948 by Giovanni Mardersteig in Verona. It grew out of the earlier Officina Bodoni, a private press established in Lugano in 1922, and took its name from the Valdonega district of Verona where its first small building was erected. From the outset the Stamperia combined traditional letterpress craftsmanship with industrial capacity, installing type-casting machines for the direct production of printing type alongside Monotype and Johannisberg cylinder presses. The firm quickly became a preferred printer for distinguished publishers in Italy and abroad, including Martello, Riccardo Ricciardi, Editrice Antenore, Adelphi, Sansoni, Collins Publishers, the Folio Society, Tauchnitz Edition, Hoffmann & Campe, Hanser Verlag, Propyläen Verlag, the Limited Editions Club and New Directions. After the founder's death in 1977, his son Martino Mardersteig maintained the company's standards and direction. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York devoted an exhibition to the firm in 1984, followed by a second show at the Grolier Club in 1991. In 1995 operations moved to a larger, more functional facility in Arbizzano. Since early 2007 the company has been part of Gruppo SIZ. Alongside its printing work, Stamperia Valdonega has issued books under the Edizioni Valdonega imprint, at first occasionally and from the late 1970s on a more continuous basis, producing scholarly, bibliophilic and typographic titles such as the eleven-volume complete works of Niccolò Machiavelli, Sigfried Unseld's L'Autore e il suo editore, and a facsimile of a unique Bodoni work made as a gift for Napoleon Bonaparte and Maria Luigia.

Stamperia Valdonega was founded in 1948 by Giovanni Mardersteig in Verona, building on the experience of the Officina Bodoni, a private press he had established in Lugano in 1922. The new firm took its name from the Valdonega district of Verona, where a first small building was constructed. Production began in 1948 with the installation of type-casting machines for the direct manufacture of printing type, together with Monotype and Johannisberg cylinder presses. In 1952 the plant was expanded and contracts were signed with publishers including Martello, Riccardo Ricciardi, Editrice Antenore, Adelphi, Sansoni, Collins Publishers, the Folio Society, Tauchnitz Edition, Hoffmann & Campe, Hanser Verlag, Propyläen Verlag, the Limited Editions Club and New Directions. After the founder's death in 1977, the company maintained its course under the direction of his son, Martino Mardersteig. In 1984 the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York dedicated an exhibition to the firm, titled The Mardersteig's Work in the Stamperia Valdonega; in 1991 the Grolier Club organized a second exhibition. In 1995 the business moved to a larger and more functional facility in Arbizzano. From the beginning of 2007 it has been owned by Gruppo SIZ. In parallel with its printing activity, the Stamperia has produced a series of editions under the Edizioni Valdonega imprint, initially on an occasional basis: in 1954 it published Carlo Cipolla's Storia politica di Verona, in 1956 Carlo Dionisotti's Discorso sull'Umanesimo italiano, and in 1964 the edition of Studi di bibliografia e di storia in onore di Tammaro De Marinis. From the late 1970s it began a more continuous publishing programme; principal editions include the Carteggio of engineer Carlo Emilio Gadda with Ammonia Casale; the complete works of Niccolò Machiavelli in eleven volumes with the Bibliografia Machiavelliana; Sigfried Unseld's L'Autore e il suo editore (co-edition with Adelphi); Giovanni Mardersteig. Stampatore, editore, umanista; Stanley Morison's Italian Writing Books: Renaissance to Baroque; the Cimelio tipografico-pittorico of Gian Battista Bodoni, a facsimile of a work existing in a single copy and printed by Bodoni as a gift for Napoleon Bonaparte and Maria Luigia; the first Italian-language monograph on Hermann Zapf; and Gian Matteo Giberti's La riforma pretridentina della diocesi di Verona.

• 2007

  The company is acquired by Gruppo SIZ.

• 1995

  Operations move to a larger facility in Arbizzano.

• 1991

  The Grolier Club organizes a second exhibition on the firm.

• 1984

  The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York holds an exhibition on the firm's work.

• 1977

  Founder Giovanni Mardersteig dies; his son Martino Mardersteig takes over the firm.

• 1964

  Edizioni Valdonega publishes Studi di bibliografia e di storia in onore di Tammaro De Marinis.

• 1956

  Edizioni Valdonega publishes Carlo Dionisotti's Discorso sull'Umanesimo italiano.

• 1954

  Edizioni Valdonega publishes Carlo Cipolla's Storia politica di Verona.

• 1952

  The plant is expanded and contracts are signed with major publishers in Italy and abroad.

• 1948

  Stamperia Valdonega is founded in Verona and begins production with type-casting and printing machinery.

• 1922

  Giovanni Mardersteig establishes the Officina Bodoni in Lugano.

High-craft, scholarly and bibliophilic printing and publishing, bridging the tradition of the private press with modern typographic production.

• Edizioni Valdonega imprint

• Tutte le opere di Niccolò Machiavelli (11 vols.)

• Bibliografia Machiavelliana

• L'Autore e il suo editore by Sigfried Unseld

• Giovanni Mardersteig. Stampatore, editore, umanista

• Italian Writing Books: Renaissance to Baroque by Stanley Morison

• Cimelio tipografico-pittorico by Gian Battista Bodoni (facsimile)

• Monograph on Hermann Zapf

• La riforma pretridentina della diocesi di Verona by Gian Matteo Giberti

• Valdonega typeface

1. 1Stamperia Valdonega — Wikipedia (Italian)it.wikipedia.org
2. 2Stamperia Valdonega — Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Official websitestamperiavaldonega.it