Library Holds Public Exhibit Of Giambatista Bodoni's Work

In commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Giambatista Bodoni (1740-1813), one of the greatest printers of all time, the Harvard University Library Department of Printing and Graphic Arts has arranged a public exhibit of typical and important examples of printing by the great Italian master.

Included in the display are volumes once in the libraries of European royal families, books in various different language scripts, and examples of Bodoni's various effects with illustrations and decorations. One volume is printed on silk cloth.

Bodoni, whose plant was in Parma, Italy, was a master type designer and cutter, who developed over 140 different Roman type characters, and from whose work nearly all modern type faces stem, the librarians pointed out.