Cabinet of Wunderkammer, Chamber of Wonders or cabinet of wonders, also room of curiosities or gab
inetto of curiosities. We are talking about the historic Libreria Bocca in Milan in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele near the Duomo of Milan. Historic space, sacred space, place of intellectuality. Fratelli Bocca Editori a story that has its distant origins in Asti, in the first half of the 18th century, with the presumed founder Antonio Secondo Bocca. Lacking intermediate sources, it resumes the threads of the events of the family tree from the end of that century with the birth of the third child, of a family of publishers and booksellers, Giuseppe Bocca Senior, 12 April 1789 and from then proceeds well documented until the end of the 19th century, recording the final birth of the nephew Giuseppe Bocca Junior, the last holder of the business with the family surname, who died in 1951. The volume focuses on the last two editorial series: PBSM Piccola Biblioteca di Scienze Moderne and BSM Biblioteca Scienze Moderne, here collected for the first time in a systematic and complete way, also enjoy the merit, at least until the thirties of the twentieth century, of possessing fascinating artistic covers designed by important Italian illustrators. A further utility offered by our archive, undoubtedly among the most exhaustive on the subject, consists in representing a precious, exclusive catalogue full of first Italian editions, relating to the editorial period 1898-1958.
The oldest bookshop in Italy, as well as a point of reference for the Milanese art system, tells its story through the volume Historical Archive of a Family of Milanese Booksellers. Anyone who has had the opportunity to visit the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan knows that one often has the feeling of being lost in the midst of a confused crowd. However, not everyone knows that in the same Galleria, at number 12, there is a place where the rest of the world disappears, the Mouth Librarythe oldest bookshop in Italy.
Once inside, the external noises are muffled and suddenly you find yourself catapulted into another dimension, where nothing is left to chance. Everything is taken care of in the smallest detail and Art reigns supreme. “A Renaissance studiolo” as it was defined by the Historian of Modern and Contemporary Art Prof. Carlo Franza.
The Bocca bookshop is nowadays a point of reference for the Milanese art world; in fact, it is a meeting place for artists, collectors, intellectuals and art critics, but it also attracts a constant heterogeneous flow of curious tourists who are fascinated by it. It has not always been this way. The bookshop has specialized in art books only in 1979, when it passed under the management of the Lodetti family. No one would have ever imagined that a small bookshop of just 50 square metres could catalyse the Italian and Milanese intellectuals. Here you will find rare books, precious books, painted books, books with graphics, artists’ monographs, essays by art historians, large and small paintings, canvases, sculptures, multiples and a thousand other things. It is located in the first few metres of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, starting from Piazza del Duomo, on the right, but it contains a past and present history that is worth all the libraries in Italy and Europe.
Paying homage to this Milanese institution are precisely George And James Lodettiwho edited the volume Historical Archive of a Family of Milanese Booksellers. The book was also presented at the Braidense National Library.
Carlo Franza