L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE traditional pharmacopoeia, prayers and some good luck riddles," he continues. "The Armenian community in Venice was already pretty solid in the 16th century and with the city being a real crossroad between the East and the West, it's not surprising that a volume in Armenian became so popular." Surprising, maybe not. But certainly remarkable, if we think that the first movable type prin- ted book was produced in Armenia only 250 years later. Actually, Samuel continues, "the first seven books in Armenian were all printed in Venice and the city was, for good part of the 16th century, the only place on Earth to use an Armenian type- face! And even when other cities began doing it — Constantinople, for instance — Venice kept being one of the most relevant centers." Ah! Constantinople! For good part of the 18th century, the pearl of the Bosporous did gain primacy for the printing of Armenian texts, but Venice didn't certainly stand by and watch while it happened or, more precisely, the Mekhitarist Congregation of San Lazzaro (one of the many islands of the lagoon that make up the city) didn't. We ask Samuel to tell us something more about the Mekhitarists, who are very important also in the context of today's Antica Stamperia Armena: "the Mekhitarists are a Benedictine congregation within the Armenian Catholic Church. Their presence transfor- med San Lazzaro Island into the heart of Venice's Armenian community and of its cultural and social life. It was thanks to their commitment and hard work that Venice returned to be the capital of Armenian printing, maintaining this position up to the beginning of the 20th cen- tury." Up to 1995, the Armenian printing tradition in La Serenissima survived thanks to the Mekhitarist typography of San Lazzaro. Unfortunately, logistic and financial problems forced the historical business to close, even though it remains active as a publishing house. Samuel elaborates on the link between the Antica Stamperia Armena of today and the histo- ric San Lazzaro typography: "our typography isn't directly connected with the Mekhitarists', which closed in 1995. However, we can say there is a real continuum with their work, because we stand for the same thing they stood for: a con- nection with the past and with the Armenian-Venetian tradi- tion." "Of course, we come from the same tradition, but our reality is very different. The Mekhitarist typography followed a more modern, commercial line, while we work entirely by hand: our goal is to keep the heritage of Armenian traditional printing alive, while embracing the tea- ching and the elegant style of Aldus Manutius." As a former paleography student, the name of Manutius puts immediately a smile on my face: immense humanist, it is also thanks to his work as a philologist and typo- grapher that we, today, are able to read the great Greek and Latin classics in their original version. And he was the one to invent paperbacks, by "folding" folios used for printing in 16: these compact, pocket editions were called Aldine. Manutius was also the inventor of the italic typeface. Beside all this, he is recogni- zed as one of the most refined and artistically talented typo- graphers in history, and it is this characteristic that Antica Stamperia Armena finds most important: "that's where our focus is, on antique, traditional craftsmanship, because we want to keep the beauty and the pre- ciousness of Venice's printing tradition alive. A tradition enti- rely made by hand," Samuel con- cludes. And so, what's the main goal of the Antica Stamperia Armena's team, both as craft- smen and keepers of an ancient and important tradition, which is, at the same time, so far from today's "disposable" culture? Samuel is quite clear about it: "our aim is to value and bring to the fore the prestige and the fame of traditional handmade printing, the same Venice has done so much to divulge through the world." This is why Antica Stamperia Armena does not simply produce, but also teaches: the team does not offer only art products to its customers, but also workshops and courses to show their craft to the world, and to pass on their knowledge to others. This is very important for them: "our courses are essential to us, for two reasons: we've been using what we earn to restore Palazzo Ca'Zenobio, the beautiful building where we are located. But first and most of all, they are important because, through them, we want to keep alive the amazing tradition of Venice's antique artisanal prin- ting." The beauty of the Letter A (Copyright: Antica Stamperia Armena) One of the artistic presses at the atelier (Copyright: Antica Stamperia Armena) Continued from page 14

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