SOMMARIO. Libro dove nasce la pioggia - Neruda

This is one of 351 copies printed letterpress on Magnani paper mould-made in Pescia, Tuscany.

PRINT RUN:

Edition limited to 400 copies, divided as follows:

.351 printed on Magnani paper, of which copies 1-80 include a pochoir print by Ugo Nespolo, signed and numbered;

.37 printed on Amatruda paper made in Amalfi, all of which include a pochoir print by Ugo Nespolo, signed and numbered;

.12 printed on papers handmade* in Japan, of which 4 printed on Mitu Mata paper, handmade by Toshiharu Kano in Nagoya.

(*) Every sheet is individually handmade, one by one.

In his introduction to Sumario, Neruda expressed his praise for his publisher and friend Alberto Tallone: «[…] Now this bouquet of Antarctic shade needs to be arranged in fair printing and consign its roughness to Tallone, master of supreme clarity, that of the mind. In the solitude where I originated, I never thought I would achieve such an honour, and I commit these scattered pages to the virtue of the great printer, just like when in my childhood I discovered and opened a wild honeycomb in the mountains. That is when I discovered that the scented wild honey on the tormented tree had been arranged in linear cells. Hence its hidden sweetness was preserved by a fragile and still geometry”.

Pablo Neruda and Alberto Tallone (Alpignano, 1964):

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Italian translation of the poems by Giuseppe Bellini.

The volume include Pablo Neruda’s biography by Giuseppe Bellini. 

The volume includes the following twenty poems: Nascita (Nacimiento), Primo viaggio (Primer viale), La mamadre (La mamadre), Il padre (El padre), Il primo mare (El primer mar), La terra australe (La tierra austral), Il collegio d’inverno (El colegio de invierno), Il sesso (El sexo), La poesia (La poesia), La timidezza (La timidez), I Pacheco (Los Pachecos), Il lago dei cigni (El lago de los cisnes), Il bimbo perduto (El niño perdido), La condizione umana (La condicion humana), L’ingiustizia (La injusticia), Gli abbandonati (Los abandonados), Le superstizioni (Las supersticiones), I libri (Los libros), Il treno notturno (El tren nocturno), La pensione della via Maruri (La pension de la calle Maruri).

This is a volume in the 8vo format (18x28,5 cm) of 160 pages entirely typeset by hand in metal movable type, letter by letter. One by one, each sort was arranged on the composing stick to form the words and the lines of text. The text type is 12-point Italic Tallone, designed by Alberto Tallone, hand-cut on steel punches by Charles Malin in Paris, and cast by Radiguer in 1949.

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The volume is housed in a hand-made slipcase and box, custom made to an exact size, whose exteriors are covered with Ingres paper. The book title is letterpress-printed on the slipcase’s spine.

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Neither monotype nor linotype are used. These typesetting systems from a keyboard are often passed off as manual typography. 

The Tallone Press does not print from plastic relief plates either. Derived from digital compositions, they are very much in vogue to simulate the effect of type impression onto the paper.

The number of movable types handled for the manual typesetting of this book, makes it an exceptional endeavor in contemporary fine printing.

Printed on very fine paper and sewn by hand, this collector’s edition is a sophisticated gift meant to last over time and designed to give the best reading experience possible.