Museo Bodoni

The Bodoni Museum in Parma's Palazzo della Pilotta preserves the printing workshop of Giambattista Bodoni: punches, matrices, presses and editions associated with his work for the ducal court. It opened in 1963 and is recognised as Italy's oldest museum devoted to printing.

Why it matters

Bodoni's type designs influenced European printing, and the museum keeps together the tools and publications that document his work as a printer and typefounder. Its collection survived the 1944 bombardment that devastated much of the Palatina Library: the Bodonian materials had been packed away in crates. The museum has belonged to the Association of European Printing Museums since 2004.

What to notice

The collection is arranged around Bodoni's life, major editions, the press and the process of making a book. The first Manuale tipografico of 1788 presents Latin, italic and Greek alphabets. Bodoni's multilingual editions include the Epithalamia of 1775, printed in twenty-six oriental languages, and the Oratio Dominica of 1806, in 155 languages. After Bodoni's death, his widow Margherita Dall'Aglio completed the definitive Manuale Tipografico of 1818, with type specimens, ornaments, borders, numerals and musical examples.

Context and history

Born in Saluzzo in 1740, Bodoni trained in Turin and at Rome's Propaganda Fide press. Duke Ferdinando of Bourbon called him to Parma in 1768 to direct the Stamperia Reale. From 1771 he designed and produced his own typefaces, and in 1791 received permission to establish a private press. After his death in 1813, Margherita completed and published the 1818 Manuale. The museum was inaugurated on 17 November 1963, marking the 150th anniversary of Bodoni's death. Since 2022 it has occupied refurbished rooms connected with the Biblioteca Palatina.