Gaimbattista Bodoni

Giambattista Bodoni was an Italian engraver, publisher, printer and typographer who lived from 1740 – 1813. Bodoni was known for designing a family of various typefaces called “Bodoni”.

(Below is an example of "Bodoni" print)

Bodoni admired and followed John Baskerville’s typeface style, commonly known as “Baskerville". (An example of this print type can be seen below)

Bodoni emerged from a printmaking family background, and he once worked as an apprentice in the Vatican’s Propaganda Find printing house in Rome. His work impressed many, and Bodoni was allowed to place his own name on his first books, a Coptic Missal and a version of the Tibetan alphabet. Bodoni was commissioned by many prominent families, including Duke Ferdinand of Bourbon-Parma. The Duke asked Bodoni to organize the printing housed called la Stamperia Reale. As Bodoni worked to publicize the house, he became well respected, and eventually was permitted to open a printing house under his own name. In later years, Bodoni
became well known for his designs of pseudo classical typefaces which were considered more apt to be admired for typeface and layout. Bodoni’s printing style was an artistically plain, and the simplicity of the typeface attracted many admirers and imitators.

Bodoni engraved 298 typefaces and after his death, his widow published II Manuale tipografico (The Manual of Typography). The manual consisted of 373 characters, 34 Greek and 48 oriental or exotic variations.

(Below is a picture of the original Manual from 1818).

In honor of the
well respected artist, the Bodoni Museum was opened in Parma, Italy in 1963,
(150 years after his death)

Below is a picture of inside the museum. It is was housed within the premises of the Pala tineLibrary, and was established to keep and conserve the collection of tools and
equipment and other items belonging to Bodoni’s printing office. It includes the four original neoclassical-style cupboards which belonged to Bodoni and where he kept his boxes of dies and sets of stencils.