The “Antica Stamperia Fabiani”: a Valuable Teaching Workshop
Antica Stamperia Fabiani
PETRITOLI –
The oldest and best-documented printer's workshop dating
from the second half of the nineteenth
century, is the “Tipografia
A. Manuzio”, to be found at Petritoli. Although all that
remains of the
original printer's are some books and manuals dating from
the end of the nineteenth century, the
volumes printed for cav. Luigi Mannocchi are of considerable
historical interest. The present-day
“Antica Stamperia Fabiani” collection has been situated at
No. 3, Vicolo del Forno since 1957, and
is composed of four extremely rare pieces of printing
equipment: a cast-iron contact printer with
wooden cross-beams produced by Amos dell' Orto in Monza in
1841 (the only complete example in
Italy);
a cast-iron hand-press made by L. Magnoni & Sons of Monza in
about 1850; a piano-roll
machine by Carlo Magnoni & C. Monza from about 1850; and
finally, another press by the C.M.
Zini foundry in Milan, dating from about 1880. Several
clichès used in those times can still be
found at the “Antica Stamperia Fabiani”. Some are made of
copper, others of wood, as well as
numerous type-faces (in lead alloy or wood). The “Antica
Stamperia Fabiani” project permits students
to interact with this valuable antique equipment. Moreover,
the staff will readily explain and
illustrate printing techniques and their various phases just
as they were in the nineteenth century
and at the beginning of the twentieth. The students are
welcomed in a large room in the printers' workshop where the
history of the press and the Fabiani family, who have been
printers in Petritoli since 1903, are succinctly explained.
Different type-faces are then introduced (usually those made
of varying mixtures of lead, tin and antimony alloy, plus a
little copper) and the art of the
compositor is illustrated as the various words to be printed
are combined. Once the bed of the
printing press is ready, the wooden or lead-alloy characters
are assembled, the printer is inked with a special rubber
roller. The sheet of paper, which has already been cut to
the right shape, is placed on the inked form, which is then
covered. Next, the bed slides underneath the press and a
special
lever sets the machinery going. At this point, the bed and
its contents are impressed on the sheet of
paper. Once the lever is put back into its original position
and the bed slides out, the freshly-printed sheet is ready
to be laid out to dry. The sheets produced are given to the
school and the material that
the pupils will work on back in their classrooms will be
made into a book published by the local
branch of the “Archeoclub d’Italia”. The didactic aims of
the project are: (i) to learn about the
history of the art of printing; (ii) to understand the
printing process; (iii) to experiment with antique
printing equipment; (iv) to stimulate the students'
creativity and imagination, plus their ability to
work in teams and coordinate their activities; (v) to
encourage the comparison of new and old
crafts, "from computer... to press... to computer"; thus
bearing witness to local craftsmanship and
its historical legacy.
