The stuff of dreams

The paper artisans

Paper’s origins are truly ancient. The first description dates back to the second century AD, in China, but it is thought that it had already been in use for some time. Its use was slow to spread in China and there was mention of paper in Italy only in the tenth century, in Palermo.

 

Fabriano, where the Academy of Paper Arts and the Museo della Carta e della Filigrana (Paper and Filigree Museum) are located, has been an important centre of production since the second half of 1200.

 

A long tradition still exists in Amalfi, where they have been producing the famous Amalfi paper, since the Middle Ages. It is also called Charta Bambagina, and is strictly handmade.

 

Other historic paper-producing areas are Bassano del Grappa, which between 1657 and 1861 became famous worldwide thanks to major publishing with Remondi and Alzano Lombardo, where paper mills already existed in the seventeenth century.

Carta12s

The art of decoration and binding also have a long history in Florence and Naples, where skilled craftsmen still devote themselves to these ancient crafts.

 

Another very important centre today is Lucca, a land rich in water and wind. Here, there is the Via della carta (Paper Road) in Tuscany too, a cultural tourism project that includes the provinces of Lucca and Pistoia, with their tradition of paper crafting the goes back to the fifteenth century, now confirmed to be a viable and internationally recognized industry. In Pietrabuona, the Province of Pescia, there is the Museo della Carta (Paper Museum), a reference point for conservators, scholars and bibliophiles around the world.

Discover all craftsmanship Paper

Articles

Impresa Sociale Magnani Pescia
Piazza della Croce, 1 - 51017 Pescia, loc. Pietrabuona

AtelierGK Firenze
Borgo San Frediano, 133R, Firenze, FI, Italia

Legatoria Moderna di Eva Seminara
Via Antonio Zanon, 16, Udine, UD, Italia

Picta Lab
Via Stromboli, 3, Milano, MI, Italia

Giulio Giannini e Figlio
Piazza de' Pitti, 37/r, Firenze, FI, Italia

Cartapesta di Marco Epicochi
Piazza del Duomo, 18, Lecce, LE, Italia

Mario Di Donfrancesco
Via Francesco Antonio D'Amelio, 1, Lecce, LE, Italia

Bottega della cartapesta
Via degli Acaya, 1, Lecce, LE, Italia

Sandro Tiberi
Via Giuseppe di Vittorio, 5, Fabriano, AN, Italia

La Cartapesta di Rosaria Pallara
Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 33, Lecce, LE, Italia

Antica Legatoria Piazzesi
Sestriere San Marco 2511/c Campiello della Feltrina - Santa Maria del Giglio, Venezia, VE, Italia

Antica Legatoria Viali
Piazza Dante Alighieri, 8, Viterbo, VT, Italia

Legatoria Artigiana Napoli
Via San Biagio dei Librai, 39, Napoli, NA, Italia

Alberto Tallone Editore
Via Armando Diaz, 9, Alpigiano, TO, Italia

Antica Legatoria Biccini
Via Baldeschi, 10/B, Perugia, PG, Italia

Cartiera F. Amatruda
Via delle Cartiere, 100, Amalfi, SA, Italia

Flavio Aquilina
Str. Vicinale Soffritto, 72, 80126 Napoli, Italia

Il Papiro
Piazza Duomo. 24/r, Firenze, FI, Italia