Printers, publishers and booksellers in Rome

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Image from:
Camera e inscrizioni sepulcrali […] scoperte nella via Appia, e illustrate con le annotazioni di monsignor Francesco Bianchini veronese l'anno 1726, In Roma, appresso Giovanni Maria Salvioni, nell'archiginnasio della Sapienza, 1727
 

 
In the context of renewed interest for 18th century Rome, the Provincial Library has exhibited some works in its collections produced by publishers and printers in Rome, with a path going through the city’s historic quarters, and with a detailed focus on the life and publishing activities in some other towns.
The exhibition called Printers, publishers and booksellers in Rome: 18th century Roman editions in the Rome Provincial Library was set up around two main areas: the Parione and Corso quarters, the starting and ending points of an ideal stroll through the workshops of craftsmen dedicated to book production. Through the indications printed in the books in the Library collections, the exhibition has reconstructed, with the help of Nolli’s map of Rome dating from 1748, the location of the various workshops and shops of the printers and booksellers in 18^th century Rome.

The spatial layout also suggests a time dimension. The printers’ workshops, which in the early 18^th century were still located in the maze of lanes and streets between Piazza Pasquino and Piazza Navona which formed, and still form, the physiognomy and character of the Parione quarter, while over the decades there was a shift towards the axis represented by Via del Corso, site of the most prestigious buildings and one of the liveliest parts of the city.

The exhibition (April-May 2006) hosted works by the official publishers, and five works printed in Palestrina and Velletri, recalling the dynamic nature of the art of printing in the current area of the Province of Rome.
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