Museo della Stampa Andrea Schiavi

The Andrea Schiavi Printing Museum in Lodi occupies the former Lodigraf printing works, later known as Il Pomerio. Historic presses, type and composing machines preserve the material history of printed books and images in a workshop setting.

Why it matters

The collection connects the printed page with the tools and skills that produced it. Andrea Schiavi developed the museum with specialists from the trade, bringing together evidence of both typographic and artistic printing.

What to notice

A Columbian press embodies the sculptural character of nineteenth-century iron machinery. Its design originated with George Clymer; the museum's example was built in London in 1859. An 1880 table-top Boston press and a wooden etching press dated around 1750, formerly used by the Ricordi publishing house, show different scales and purposes. Linotype and Monotype machines represent mechanical type composition, while large lithographic stones carry images engraved between 1860 and 1930.

Context and history

The museum opened in June 2008 in premises that retain the architectural character of the old printing works. Its range extends from earlier manual techniques to industrial printing, placing the equipment within the wider history of communication and craftsmanship.