Gabriele Giolito de' Ferrari (c. 1508 – 1578) was a 16th-century Italian printer active in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

. He was one of the first major publishers of literature in the

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

Italian language.

Early life and career

Giolito was born at Trino to Giovanni the Elder and Guglielmina Borgominieri. In 1523 he established the Libreria della Fenice (Bookshop of the

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

), a printing press and bookstore, with his father in the

Rialto The Rialto is a central area of Venice, Italy, in the ''sestiere'' of San Polo. It is, and has been for many centuries, the financial and commercial heart of the city. Rialto is known for its prominent markets as well as for the monumental Ria ...

district of Venice, at the time a major European center of the new art of printing. When his father moved to

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, Gabriele operated the press initially with his brothers and then with increasing autonomy, acquiring shops in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

, and Ferrara. He married Lucrezia Bin in 1544 and with her had twelve children.

Publications

Giolito's press published a mix of Renaissance classics and new authors. Giolito was dedicated to publishing works in the ''lingua volgare'', or Italian vernacular, as opposed to Latin, Greek and other languages not familiar to the common population. Beginning in 1545, his printing house issued the influential collections of lyric poetry entitled 'Rime Diverse' and known today as the 'Giolito Anthologies.' Eight anthologies would follow, not all of them published by Giolito. The poems in these anthologies, especially the first two, would serve as influential models to the French poet

Joachim du Bellay Joachim du Bellay (; – 1 January 1560) was a French poet, critic, and a founder of the Pléiade. He notably wrote the manifesto of the group: '' Défense et illustration de la langue française'', which aimed at promoting French as an a ...

. He was also famous for his 1555 edition of

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

's ''Commedia'', edited by

Lodovico Dolce Lodovico Dolce (1508/10–1568) was an Italian man of letters and theorist of painting. He was a broadly based Venetian humanist and prolific author, translator, and editor; he is now mostly remembered for his ''Dialogue on Painting'' or ''L'Areti ...

and for the first time published with the title '' Divina Commedia''. Giolito was also well known for his

printer's mark A printer's mark, device, emblem or insignia is a symbol that was used as a trademark by early printers starting in the 15th century. The first printer's mark is found in the 1457 Mainz Psalter by Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer. One of the m ...

, which had many variations but was most often represented by a phoenix emerging from flames atop a globe with the initials G.G.F.http://edit16.iccu.sbn.it/web_iccu/imain.htm (Publisher file CNCT 33) File:Giolito.jpg File:Giolito 2.jpg File:Giolito 3.jpg

Death

Gabriele Giolito de' Ferrari died in Venice in 1578. The press was taken over by his sons, Giovanni the Younger and Giovanni Paolo, who continued to publish until 1606.

References

*Bongi, Salvatore. ''Annali di Gabriel Giolito de' Ferrari da Trino di Monferrato stampatore in Venezia, descritti e illustrati da Salvatore Bongi.'' Roma: Presso i principali librai, 1890-1895.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giolito De' Ferrari, Gabriele 1500s births 1578 deaths People from Trino 16th-century Italian businesspeople Italian printers Italian publishers (people) 16th-century Venetian people

Early life and career

Publications

Death

See also

References

Further reading

External links