Giuseppe "Pino" Orioli (1884–1942) was a
Florentine bookseller best known for privately publishing the unexpurgated first edition of ''
Lady Chatterley's Lover
''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' is the last novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Italy, and in 1929, in France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Kingdom until 1960, w ...
'' and for his long association with
Norman Douglas.
Giuseppe Orioli was born in 1884 in
Alfonsine
Alfonsine ( rgn, Agl'infulsẽ or ''Agl'infulsèn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Ravenna in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. It is located east of Bologna and northwest of Ravenna.
It is located between the Senio Ri ...
, the son of a shopkeeper. He moved to Florence to work in a barber shop when he was 14 years old. He later served in the military and lived in Paris and London for some time after leaving the military and before returning to Florence. In Florence he established a small shop that sold antique books.
Orioli's relationship with Norman Douglas began in Florence after Douglas settled there in 1922. Orioli undertook the private publication of many of Douglas' subsequent writings.
[Douglas, Norman]
pages 329–333 in: ''Encyclopedia of British humorists: Geoffrey Chaucer to John Cleese, Volume 1'', edited by Steven H. Gale, Taylor & Francis, 1996. Some of those and a number of previously unpublished works by other English authors such as
Richard Aldington
Richard Aldington (8 July 1892 – 27 July 1962), born Edward Godfree Aldington, was an English writer and poet, and an early associate of the Imagist movement. He was married to the poet Hilda Doolittle (H. D.) from 1911 to 1938. His 50-year w ...
,
D. H. Lawrence and
William Somerset Maugham, were published in Orioli's Lungarno book series.
D.H. Lawrence had sought to have ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' published conventionally by his publishers in England and the United States, but they were reluctant to undertake its publication because of its explicit sexual content. To circumvent
censorship, Norman Douglas urged Lawrence to have the book published privately in Florence, and is believed to have introduced him to Orioli. In March 1928, Orioli and Lawrence took Lawrence's unexpurgated typescript to a Florence printing shop where
type was set by hand by Italian workers who did not know any English, resulting in numerous errors in the
typesetting. After several delays, including the time required for extensive proofreading by Lawrence, about 1000 copies of the novel were released in July 1928.
[Michael Squires (2002)]
Introduction
to ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' and ''A Propos of Lady Chatterley's Lover'', Cambridge University Press
Orioli and Douglas traveled extensively together
[ and were so close that they were known to their friends by the name "Pinorman", a portmanteau word combining Orioli's nickname "Pino" with Douglas' given name of "Norman."][ Together they wrote ''Venus in the Kitchen'', a collection of aphrodisiac recipes that was published in 1952 under the pseudonym Pilaff Bey.][ In his book, ''Pinorman'', ]Richard Aldington
Richard Aldington (8 July 1892 – 27 July 1962), born Edward Godfree Aldington, was an English writer and poet, and an early associate of the Imagist movement. He was married to the poet Hilda Doolittle (H. D.) from 1911 to 1938. His 50-year w ...
writes, ″Pino did know English well and spoke it fluently, though with certain mistakes which gave it a peculiar flavour. And he was perfectly capable of writing those books himself, except that verbal correction would have been needed.″ (The books are apparently ''Adventures of a Bookseller'' and ''Moving Along: Just a Diary''.) Aldington then adds that Norman Douglas, rather than make corrections to the two books, ″rewrote Pino's books, and spoiled them, by taking out the special quality which was Pino and substituting his own much less amusing mannerisms.″ (p. 29)
Orioli died in 1942 in Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, where he is buried.[
]
References
Further reading
*Richard Aldington
Richard Aldington (8 July 1892 – 27 July 1962), born Edward Godfree Aldington, was an English writer and poet, and an early associate of the Imagist movement. He was married to the poet Hilda Doolittle (H. D.) from 1911 to 1938. His 50-year w ...
(1954), ''Pinorman: Personal Recollections of Norman Douglas, Pino Orioli and Charles Prentice'',Douglas, Norman, and Charles Prentice at Betti's restaurant in Florence, Italy (photos)
/ref> William Heinemann Ltd.
*Mark Holloway (1976), ''Norman Douglas: A Biography'', Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd. .
*G. Orioli (1938), ''Adventures of a Bookseller'', Robert M. McBride & Co.
*G. Orioli (1934), ''Moving Along: Just a Diary'', Chatto & Windus.
*G. Orioli (1974), ''Some Letters of Pino Orioli to Mrs Gordon Crotch'', The Tragara Press, Edinburgh.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orioli, Giuseppe
1884 births
1942 deaths
Italian book publishers (people)
People from the Province of Ravenna