Museo Bodoniano

The Bodoni Museum, opened in 1963, is the oldest museum of the press in Italy, housed on the top floor of the Biblioteca Palatina in Palazzo Farnese Pilotta. Documents the activities of the typographer Giambattista Bodoni, who was born in Saluzzo in 1740 and active in Parma, at the Ducal Printing and typography in his own workshop, from 1768 until his death in 1813. Museum exhibits a rich collection of printed Bodoni, a substantial correspondence and the valuable collection of tools Workshop by Giambattista Bodoni. The exhibition is organized into six sections, which are useful to illustrate the life and works of the printer, the history of the book from manuscript to the present day, the evolution of the printed page and the character, the history of typography in Parma from the fifteenth to the twentieth century. Of high interest is the section devoted to the workshop Bodoni, which exposes punches, dies, molds for the casting of the characters, and other tools that explain the performance of typographical work. 

The Museum offers the public a rich modern library which contains valuable works of Italian, studying graphic design and publishing essays and monographs on Bodoni, books on the history and techniques of printing. It also promotes studies and research in the field of graphic design and typography, and regularly organizes exhibitions, conferences, lectures, seminars and educational visits for schools of all levels.