Giovanni Mardersteig

Giovanni Mardersteig (born January 8, 1892, Weimar, Germany—died December 27, 1977, Verona, Italy) was a printer and typographer who, as head of Officina Bodoni, created books exemplifying the highest standards in the art of printing.

He studied law at the universities of Bonn, Vienna, Kiel, and finally Jena, where he received his degree. After graduation he taught school for a time in the Swiss town of Zuoz. In 1917 he joined the publishing house of Kurt Wolff, in Leipzig, where he was in charge of the publication of a series of art books and edited the art journal Genius.

In 1922 Mardersteig moved to Montagnola, near Lugano, Switzerland, where he founded Officina Bodoni. His first book (1923) was an edition of Politian’s Favola d’Orfeo; other early works included Shelley’s Epipsychidion, Shakespeare’s Tempest, and Dante’s Vita nuova. These and other works were printed by Mardersteig alone, using his handpress, and they earned him an international reputation. Later, he acquired a few assistants. He received permission from the Italian government to cast type from Giambattista Bodoni’s original matrices, and many of his editions used these Bodoni types.

As a result of winning a government competition in 1927, Mardersteig was assigned to print the Italian national edition of the works of Gabriele D’Annunzio. Mardersteig did the printing in Verona, near D’Annunzio’s home, working on the 50-volume set for five years. He then spent a year in Scotland working for Collins Cleartype Press, where he designed a type that came to be known as Fontana.

Returning to Italy, Mardersteig again set up Officina Bodoni in Verona. The press specialized in small editions, printed with meticulous care on an old-fashioned handpress that occupied a room in his house. In addition to Fontana, he also designed the typefaces Dante, Griffo, and Zeno.

From 1947 Mardersteig also operated the Stamperia Valdonèga in Verona. This organization, continued after Mardersteig’s death by his son Martino, became known for larger editions than those of the Officina Bodoni, but it, too, emphasized fine workmanship.