EUGENE–An exhibition of books printed at two of the most distinguished contemporary Italian private presses will open on Feb. 26 in the Special Collections Reading Room on the second floor of the University of Oregon’s Knight Library, 1501 Kincaid St.

Sponsored by the UO Library System which in 1999 established its own fine press, the Knight Library Press, the local exhibition will continue through May 26. Identical exhibits are on display concurrently at the universities of Washington, San Francisco, Nevada at Reno and Utah.

A free public lecture by the Verona printers–Gino Castiglioni and Alessandro Corubolo of Officina Chimèrea and Alessandro Zanella of Ampersand–will be held in the Browsing Room at the Knight Library at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 26, with a reception to follow.

Officina Chimèrea and Ampersand are fine literary presses that publish illustrated limited editions in the tradition of William Morris’s Kelmscott Press and Emery Walker and Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson’s Doves Press. The 21 examples in this exhibition–10 from each press and one co-publication–were produced entirely by hand on cast-iron handpresses or on a manually operated cylinder proof press. All of the illustrations are original graphics signed by the artists.

"This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see examples of traditional European book arts," writes Richard-Gabriel Rummonds in the 16-page, full-color catalog available to visitors of the exhibition. "These three printers have at the end of the millennium brought the art of the handpress to another apogee of perfection similar to the one that it had attained in the English-speaking world at the end of the 19th century.

"The hallmark of their collective works is their interest in 20th-century literature and original graphics," adds Rummonds, author of "Printing on the Iron Handpress," considered to be the most comprehensive book ever published on the subject. "There may not be many handpress printers left in the world today, but the publications of the Officina Chimèrea and Ampersand will continue to serve as models of technical excellence and inspiration for generations of printers and collectors to come."

Castiglioni and Corubolo began printing in 1960 while still in their teens, having been encouraged by the pre-eminent handpress printer Franco Riva. Their publications include several by English and American writers, such as W.H. Auden, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Ezra Pound and Stephen Spender. After 1968, all of their work has been done on an 1855 Italian Albion handpress.

Before establishing his own imprint in 1982, Zanella had worked with Rummonds, one of the pre-eminent handpress printers of the 20th century, at the Plain Wrapper Press in Verona. His work at Ampersand also reflects an interest in international literature, having published such authors as von Kleist, Yannis Ritsos and Stéphane Mallarmé, in addition to publishing a series of 20th-century Italian authors.

Zanella also accepts commissions and prints the annual limited-edition book for the Cento Amici del Libro, an exclusive bibliophile club in Italy. Much of his work is done on an 1854 Italian Stanhope handpress.

For information, call Sandy Tilcock, director of the Knight Library Press, (541) 465-9079, or the Office of the University Librarian, 346-3056.

—30—

#P-2109/A&E