franco maria ricci is one of italy's most distinguished publishers specialized in beautifully printed and bound art and fashion books ..............................

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this article was published in may 2000,
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franco maria ricci


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one of italy's most distinguished publishers,
produces beautifully printed and bound books specializing in art and fashion.
franco maria ricci was born in parma, italy on december 2, 1937.

he studied geology and worked for gulf oil before he opened in 1963 a
graphic studio in parma and began his activity with trademark design for
numerious brands, he designed posters, calendars and catalogues.









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in the meantime he dedicated himself to the study of the work and style of
giambattista bodoni, director of the 'stamperia ducale di parma' and typographer,
of which he re-printed the 'manuale tipografico' (tipografical manual).
originally printed in 1818 and in 2 volumes it was published posthumously,
illustrating 373 typefaces. it took ricci two years to complete this masterpiece
and in in 1965 he printed it in 900 numbered copies.
the same year he founded his editing house 'franco maria ricci'.
two years later he published 'l'oratio dominica' by bodoni (1806), the 'pater noster'
translated in 155 languages was the most complete typographic catalogue of
this period.













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1972 - 80 franco maria ricci published the 'enciclopedia of
diderot and d'alambert',
a facsimile re-print in 18 volumes.










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a few collections, mostly limitated and numbered editions:

the collection 'i segni dell'uomo' presents unknown or less estimated artists,
among others photos by lewis carrol and paintings by tamara de lempicka.








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among many awards, in 1981 he was made 'chevalier des arts et des lettres'
by the french republic. he opened various bookshops in Italy and abroad and in
1982 he published the well-known bimonthly arts magazine 'FMR' - in italian,
english, french and spanish. this magazine is available only by subscription.
connoisseurs appreciate the beautiful illustrations of artworks, the majority of
which are shown in their actual size and are photographed dramatically against
a black background. photography rarely matches this high level of production.










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1984 kos - a magazine based on the culture and the history of medical, human
and natural sciences, with biographies, studies, drawings.















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the dictionary of the history of medicine and natural sciences




















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jorge luis borges, friend of franco maria ricci, was the curator
of the 'biblioteca di babele', he selected each author and the
30 volumes are introduced by himself.
first edition with illustrations by franco maria ricci and

.......................
..........................jorge luis borges and
.............................franco maria ricci








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'luxe, calm et volupte', is the title of this collection dedicated
to the world of beauty and vanity: valentino, armani, capucci, versace,
ferragamo shoes...












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'luxurious papeteries: block-notes, envelopes, calendars,
agendas, carnet d'adresses and organizers are part of the
collection 'plumes':












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'quadreria'
a sort of 'wunderkammer', masterpieces of private collections
and less known museum collections.
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