Engraving Music – Casa Ricordi and the Art of Music Printing

A new volume on the history of music publishing and a valuable limited-edition box set are the result of a collaboration between the Archivio Storico Ricordi and Tipoteca Italiana.

«The most precious material in terms of moral, historical, and material value»

This is how the publisher Ricordi described the lead plates and lithographic stones that miraculously escaped destruction in the 1943 bombing. While the factory was razed, the warehouse housing the printing materials remained intact. And it’s precisely from one of these original plates, carefully preserved in the Archivio Storico Ricordi, that Tipoteca Italiana—in collaboration with Stamperia d’arte Albicocco in Udine—successfully re-printed the musical content engraved over a century ago, creating a unique and valuable document.

The volume Engraving Music, a collaboration between Archivio Storico Ricordi and Tipoteca Italiana, explores the world of music engraving and printing within the broader context of Italian industrial history, highlighting the technological and cultural innovations introduced by Casa Ricordi. Through in-depth critical and documentary essays, complemented by a prestigious collection of illustrations and photographs that offer a close look at the tools and workshops of music engraving, the book traces the evolution of musical typography, from manual engraving to modern lithographic processes; it celebrates the tradition of skilled craftsmanship exemplified by the lives of the protagonists and artisans who made Casa Ricordi an international symbol of editorial excellence in opera and beyond. Engraving Music stands as an important contribution for enthusiasts and scholars, offering new insights into the value of material culture connected to the historical memory of Italian music production between the 19th and 20th centuries.

Engraving Music
Casa Ricordi and the Art of Music Printing

• Edited by: Archivio Storico Ricordi, Tipoteca Italiana Fondazione
• Year: 2025
• Publisher: Antiga Edizioni (Series: Musica)
• Pages: 88
• ISBN: 978-88-8435-538-6
• Price: 38.00 €

Clic here to buy.

Limited-edition luxury copies are available with either a Tosca or La Bohème box set.

For more information, please write to editoria@graficheantiga.it.