Tag Archives: Italy

When In Rome

Posted on May 28, 2020 by

Whenever I travel to Rome or Athens, I always visit ancient ruins and archeological sites. But it can be a bit of a stretch to try and picture what the buildings original looked like and how they were used.  New … Continue reading →

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Plague Tales

Posted on April 7, 2020 by

The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio follows ten young people–seven women and three men–who take shelter from the Black Plague outside of medieval Florence. Each day, over the course of ten days, members of the group must entertain the others with … Continue reading →

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High on Books

Posted on April 2, 2020 by

Europe’s highest bookstore opened last summer on Mount Blanc at an altitude of 3,466 meters. The Feltrinelli bookshop is situated inside the Punta Helbronner station on the third floor of the Skyway Monte Biancodi Funivie Montebianco . The stunning shop … Continue reading →

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Bookmobile with an Italian accent

Posted on March 19, 2020 by

UNA NUOVA INIZIATIVA PER LA DIFFUSIONE DEL LIBRO proclaims the title at the top of the photo, or, in English, A New Initiative for Distributing Books. The early 1920s bookmobile was actually publisher’s method of selling books to the public, not … Continue reading →

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Arrivederci e grazie per le buone letture

Posted on July 26, 2019 by

Sicilian author Andrea Camilleri, who died last week at age 93, is probably best known as the author of 27 novels and multiple short story collections starring police officer Inspector Salvo Montalbano, many of which take place in the fictional … Continue reading →

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It’s A Big World After All

Posted on July 4, 2019 by

In 1587, Italian cartographer Urbano Monte created the largest known map of Earth. His map consists of 60 panels that were designed to be assembled into a single planisphere —a circular map that rotates about a central axis— measuring 10 … Continue reading →

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See Naples and sleep with the books

Posted on June 20, 2019 by

The Mondadori Bookstore in Naples’ Vomero District has made it possible to spend the night surrounded by thousands of books. Under the name Mooks Bed & Books, the bookshop has installed two beautiful suites, each furnished with antiques and thousands of books … Continue reading →

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Minima Muralia

Posted on April 28, 2019 by

Those of you who regularly visit this humble blog are all too well aware that I am an enormous fan of street art and basically obsessed with books. So when I stumbled upon the book Minima Muralia, which explores more … Continue reading →

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This Book Is Dangerous (again)

Posted on March 18, 2019 by

In 1927, Italian Futurist artist and designer Fortunato Depero published his groundbreaking monograph Depero Futurista, or “Depero the Futurist,” which became commonly known as “The Bolted Book” because of its large aluminum fasteners. The avant-garde masterpiece had an imaginative layout, experimental typography, … Continue reading →

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Misteriosi d’Italia

Posted on February 11, 2019 by

I recently stumbled upon a marvelous new book of stories and illustrations exploring magical places, spooky folklore, mysterious legends, and unexplained phenomena in Italy. The Atlas of Mysterious Places of Italy was a joint project of illustrator Francesco Bongiorni and writer Massimo … Continue reading →

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