About Us

The Studio Bibliografico Marini was founded in 1993. From the outset, the bookshop has specialized in rare and out-of-print books on art, photography, design and architecture, first editions of 20th century literature, volumes with original engravings, illustrated books, artist, art graphics and original works on paper. The specialization in the aforementioned fields was gradually enriched by an assiduous and passionate attendance at the ateliers of the major Italian printers of the last century, such as Giorgio Upiglio, Franco Sciardelli, M'Arte di Luigi Majno, Brenno Bucciarelli, Giorgio Lucini, Piergiorgio Spallacci, Romolo and Rosalba Bulla, as well as from an intense attendance of writers, poets and artists.

Over the course of its thirty years of activity, the Firm has accumulated a rich and precious database of approximately 50,000 volumes, which can be purchased on the official website and on the main international search engines. In recent years, particular attention has been paid to the acquisition of historical and contemporary photobooks, making the Studio one of the European reference points in the field. Two large recent acquisitions, of a private fund and of the entire editorial production of the Steidl publishing house, have made it possible to reach the remarkable number of 10,000 volumes of photography available online and in the Rome office.

Over the years the Studio has actively contributed to the promotion of rare books on the national and international market, participating in fairs and festivals. On these occasions he proposed works and documents of absolute value and rarity, among these the original typescript of Finisterre, with some annotations in pencil, by Eugenio Montale purchased in 2014 by the Manuscript Tradition Center of the University of Pavia, the autograph manuscript of La crusade of the innocents by Gabriele D'Annunzio, with attached handwritten correspondence between the Poet and Riccardo Gualino, two copies of Los versos del Capitan by Pablo Neruda, dedicated respectively to Salvatore Quasimodo and Mario Licata, Apocalypses and sixteen translations by Giuseppe Ungaretti, with two original works by Lucio Fontana, and again Quatre histoires de blanc et noir by Frantisek KUPKA, Musique phénoménale by Jean Dubuffet and Asger Jorn, 2 copies purchased from prestigious US universities, Sappho translated by Emilio Villa with 10 original lithographs by Alberto Burri, Ode to Lucio Fontana by Leonardo Sinisgalli with original etchings by Lucio Fontana and many others of which you can still find documentation in the appropriate pages of the site.

He has also dedicated particular attention to the valorisation of some historic fonds, first of all that of the Gualino family. The latter, known for the surprising entrepreneurial and cultural activities of the progenitor Riccardo Gualino and his wife Cesarina, has shared with the library an enormous heritage of paper documents, photographs, autographs, artifacts and works of art whose cataloging and study have led to the creation of the permanent online exhibition, The extraordinary world of Riccardo and Cesarina Gualino. The exhibition intends to constitute a point of reference and connection for all the novelties (exhibitions, publications and events) linked to the two patrons, publishing updates from time to time in the various sections that make it up. In this regard, an unpublished work by Riccardo Gualino, Confessions of a dreamer and a large historical memoir by Riccardo Gualino Jr., My grandfather Riccardo, both edited and published by Marini Editore, the publishing house connected to the Studio, have been published.
In 2017, pursuing the line of enhancing heritage of particular historical-artistic relevance, the Studio acquired the entire photographic archive and library of Luciano D'Alessandro. Thousands of negatives and photos have been cataloged to promote the work of one of the masters of Italian photo-reportage, in public and private institutions, as evidenced by the Luciano D'Alessandro exhibition. The last idealist held in 2021 at the Museum of Rome in Trastevere, curated by the Studio and Roberto Lacarbonara. A section of the library website, which is constantly updated, hosts a vast overview of the material archived up to now and made available to enthusiasts and scholars.
Starting from 2020, the Studio, in synergy with Vanessa Tamburi, has created a first partial reasoned inventory of Ennio Tamburi's works, which we present in a specially dedicated section, which can always be visited on the site.

In 2005, the Studio registered the Marini editore publishing house and published precious illustrated books with original works of art, in collaboration with the main Italian printers. The first volume, Eight Poems by Roberto Sanesi, with engravings by Joe Tilson, is published in collaboration with Giorgio Upiglio. The first organic series, under the name Spalandodietroivetri, directed by Alfredo Giuliani and Achille Perilli, began in February 2006 with the volume From Max's diary by the same editors. Subsequently, the volume On the edges of the impossible by Giorgio Barbaglia was published with drawings and an original engraving by Enrico Della Torre. With the death of Alfredo Giuliani this first editorial experience ends. More recently, the artist's edition Passi 13'36' followed, a box set created by Alfredo Pirri and the sound collective Polisonum. In 2022 the two volumes by and on Riccardo Gualino mentioned above were published.

Since 2017, a new office in Rome, in the Pigneto district, joins the historic one in the province of Bari. This turns its main attention to photography, producing a rich calendar of events, book presentations, individual and collective exhibitions. In particular, the review “Fresco. La Nuova Illustration”, a cycle of 12 exhibitions which exhibited the work of artists who can be considered good champions of the Italian panorama in the field of illustration. Among these: Elisa Seitzinger, Elisa Talentino, Antonio Pronostico, Irene Rinaldi, Emiliano Ponzi.

Other important exhibitions have been dedicated to Lamberto Pignotti, to the American artists Jason Scuilla and Mathew McWilliams, to Mario Giacomelli in collaboration with Magazzini Fotografico of Naples. For 2023, on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the bookshop, a major exhibition by Paolo Ventura, one of the most representative contemporary Italian photographers, will be organized at the end of May.

Collaborators:

Renzo Marini - Degree in Philosophy (Thesis: The concept of growth of scientific knowledge). Thirty-five years of research activity in the CNR. Founder of the Marini Bibliographic Study in 1993
Giovanna Marini - Degree in Modern Literature (University of Bari). Owner of the Firm and head of the Bari office
Adele Marini - Degree in Modern Literature (University of Bari). Head of the Rome office and of the Luciano D'Alessandro Archive
Mariella Pugliese - Scientific high school diploma. For the Bari office: Cataloguing, filing and administration
Maria Elisa Massetti - 1st level Degree in Art History (Sapienza University of Rome), 2nd level History of Contemporary Art (Sapienza University of Rome), Master: Conservation, gestion et diffusion des œuvres d'art XX-XXIe s . (Paul Valéry University – Montpellier 3). For the Rome office and the site: Content creation for the website, organization and management of events, cataloging of works and books
Martha Micali - Degree in Publishing and Writing (Sapienza University of Rome), specialization in Photography (IED - European Institute of Design, Rome). Photographer and editor. For the Rome office and the site: Content creation and care for the website and social networks, organization and care of events, cataloging of works and books

Affiliations:

ALAI (Antiquarian Booksellers Association of Italy)
ILAB (International League of Antiquarian Booksellers)