Giambattista Bodoni, 1740-1813
Bodoni and the modern typographic art
Son of an artist, in 1758 Giambattista Bodoni (Saluzzo 1740 – Parma 1813) entered service at the Propaganda Fide printing house in Rome, where he quickly understood the connection between publishing and power. Called as he was to reorganize the characters of Claude Garamond purchased by Sixtus V and commissioned by Francis I for the editorial aesthetics of the French monarchy, Giambattista was soon able to put into practice the idea of a “coordinated” graphic image of the State, given that from 1768 he worked for the Dukes of Parma, codifying for their benefit an original and universally recognizable page, with rigorously defined characters, no longer inspired by calligraphic principles but finally typographic. In the City he received homage from nobles, intellectuals and artists and was admitted to an audience by Pius VI, later sanctioning his definitive consecration in 1786. Visits to the printing house, a destination of the Grand Tour, multiplied, leading him to become known in all the European courts. His fame became unstoppable thanks to his first Manual, printed as an exhibition of the characters he had cast in 1788, and which even landed in America, receiving praise from Benjamin Franklin. Intending to open his own printing house, independent of the Royal Printing House, Bodoni succeeded in realizing his dream in 1791, thanks to a pension from the court of Madrid and a sovereign authorization.
Bodoni’s catalogue, in line with neoclassical taste, was distinguished by the wealth of authors from the ancient world, then from Italian classics and, as the geography of his success expanded, from French and English. His graphic conception is fully revealed in the famous Oratio Dominica of 1806 containing the translation of the Pater Noster into 155 languages, which has become the largest catalogue of alphabets and typographic characters ever published. His editions, true works of art destined to be admired and objects of bibliophilia throughout the world, earned him eternal glory to the point of being considered the founder of modern typographic taste. The beauty of the printed pages, with wide margins, the use of fine papers and materials such as parchment or silk, the harmony of the composition with characters that almost seem like sculptures, crystallised his style which became a myth throughout the twentieth century. Even today, in their various reinterpretations, they are used in advertising graphics and in the brands of big names, representing elegance, simplicity, Italianness and at the same time luxury and refinement. If the engraving and typographic heritage of this famous workshop soon entered the ducal collections, it is only since 1963 with the opening of the Bodoni Museum, for decades not very accessible and today renovated on the ground floor of the palace according to an aesthetic that suggests the values of taste contemporary to the great printer.
Chronology
1740 – Born on February 26 in Saluzzo to a family of printers.
1758 – He is in Rome at the Polyglot Printing House of Propaganda Fide.
1766 – He decides to leave Rome for London in order to perfect his skills in engraving. Having arrived in Piedmont, struck by tertian fever, he must give up the trip to London. In Saluzzo he receives an invitation from the duke, Don Ferdinando di Borbone, who calls him to Parma to establish and manage the Royal Printing House, which soon becomes famous throughout Europe for the perfection of its editions.
1768 – He arrives in Parma, where he will remain for his entire life, sought after and visited by sovereigns and men of letters.
1769 – Prints the Descrizione delle Feste for the Wedding of Duke Ferdinand and the Archduchess of Austria Maria Amalia: the most important Italian book of celebrations.
1771 – He published his first typographic essay Fregi e Majuscole, with which he began a series of manuals, i.e. samples of typefaces designed and engraved by him.
1775 – Epithalamia Exoticis Linguis Reddita for the wedding of the Crown Prince of Piedmont Carlo Emanuele of Savoy and Maria Clotilde of France, a splendid volume full of 26 different oriental characters and illustrated with 139 engravings.
1783 – He is appointed Printer of the Chamber of Charles III of Spain. In the same year he prints Essai de Caracteres Russes for the visit of Paul, Crown Prince of Russia and his wife to the printing house.
1788 – The Manuale Tipografo and the Serie di Majuscole e Caratteri Cancellereschi are published .
1791 – He marries Margherita Dall’Aglio, collaborator and continuator of his work after his death. He opens his private printing house, where he can better satisfy his insatiable needs for perfection and beauty. He begins to print editions of the Latin classics with the splendid Orazio Flacco.
1793 – He published Virgilio and other Latin classics, sponsored by his patron, Cavalier Nicolas de Azara, minister of the King of Spain in Rome.
1794 – Print of Tasso’s La Gerusalemme with a dedication to the King of Spain Charles IV, which is considered among his masterpieces.
1795 – La Divina Commedia dedicated to Don Ludovico di Borbone.
1796 – Napoleon enters the States of Parma, recognizing their sovereignty in exchange for neutrality, onerous war contributions and the requisition of works of art.
1797 – Petrarca‘s rhymes are printed .
1800 – Pitture di Antonio Allegri detto Il Correggio esistenti nel Monistero di San Paolo. The Italian, French and Spanish text in a great variety of characters is followed by 35 figures engraved by Rosaspina, some in black and others in sanguine.
1802 – Sudden death of Don Ferdinando in 1802; the duchy soon after becomes fully part of French rule. Louis Moreau de Saint-Méry is appointed General Administrator of the States of Parma.
1805 – On June 26, Napoleon, visiting Parma, asks to meet Bodoni, who is instead confined to bed by gout.
1806 – He prints the Oratio Dominica, or “Our Father,” in 155 languages, a precious book that marks an epoch in typography. It bears a dedication to the viceroy of Italy, Eugene Beauharnais, and a preface in French, Italian, and Latin. It is divided into 4 parts and includes Asian, European, African, and American languages in 215 different characters.
In the same year he sent 14 of his editions to the Paris exhibition, winning the gold medal for first prize. In July he was in Milan to bring the Oratio Dominica, hosted in Monza by the Viceroy.
1808 – Iliade in Greek, his masterpiece, superb edition in three volumes of maximum format. Two copies were also printed on Bavarian parchment, one for Napoleon (now in the National Library of Paris) and one for Eugene (in the Palatine Library of Parma).
1810 – Napoleon awards Bodoni a life pension of three thousand francs “in consideration of the progress he has made in the art of typography”.
1811 – Murat decorated him with the Order of the Two Sicilies.
1812 – Napoleon decorated him with the Imperial Order of Reunion with a gift of 18,000 francs.
In the last three years of his life, the tireless Bodoni worked on the finalization of the four French classics commissioned by King Joachim Murat: Fenelon, Racine, La Fontaine, Boileau for the education of his son Napoleon Achille.
For the birth of the king of Rome, he printed the Cimelio Tipografico Pittorico, dedicated to Napoleon and Maria Luigia.
1813 – He died in Parma on November 30. The announcement spread throughout the city with the ringing of the largest bell in the Cathedral, the Bajon, reserved for members of the most noble families. On December 2, the funeral was held in the Cathedral, attended by the heads of the Government, the Municipality, and all the scientific and literary bodies.
1818 – The widow, after having completed the French classics for Murat, publishes in two volumes the definitive Manuale Tipografico, a decades-long effort by the illustrious typographer.