Giambattista Bodoni
Printer, Giambattista Bodoni was born near Cuneo in 1740 and died in Parma in 1813
The son of a printer from Saluzzo, Bodoni worked for a while at the press of the Vatican.
He moved to Parma in 1768, entrusted by minister Du Tillot with the ducal press and under the patronage of the duke, he produced stately quartos and folios with impressive title pages and luxurious margins.
Bodoni was a leader in originating pseudoclassical typefaces, distinguished from the old style of Caslon by emphasizing the contrast of light and heavy lines and by long, level serifs.
His most notable publications include folio editions of Horace (1791), Vergil (1793), The Divine Comedy (1795), and Homer (1808).
His elegant books were actually made to be admired for typeface and layout, not to be studied or read and Bodoni was maybe indifferent to the quality of the text he printed and to editing and proofreading.
A Museum dedicated to Bodoni is hosted on the first floor of the Pilotta Palace.
