The Nebiolo Typefoundry, 1878–1978: New Critical Assessments

Until closing in 1978, the Nebiolo company of Turin was Italy’s greatest type foundry on both national and international levels for most of the 20th century. Originating from a small type foundry established in 1852 and bought by Giovanni Nebiolo in 1878, Nebiolo was officially set up in 1880. By the turn of the century the company experienced a rapid commercial expansion that would lead it to successfully develop the production of printing presses, a sector in which it would dominate the Italian market until the 1970s. Nebiolo is especially remembered for its contributions in the field of typeface design. Its Studio Artistico—headed successively by Giulio Da Milano, Alessandro Butti and Aldo Novarese—released influential typefaces that had a strong impact on the history of 20th-century printing and graphic design in Italy and elsewhere. This book is the story of the foundry as never told before—in Italian and English, but not both.