«La réalité a fini par se conformer à l’écrit». Editorial Strategies for the History of Art

Abstract

The paper reflects on Il libro d'arte in Italia (1935-1965) edited by Massimo Ferretti (Pisa, Edizioni della Normale, 2021), as a starting point for further critic reasonings about the relationship between History of Art and Publishing in the Twentieth century. Recalling the statements in the book, the paper remarks a range of topics, like the material aspects of editorial production, such as photography as illustration technique, and the planning of specialized series as the output of cultural projects. This demonstrates how the history of the book of art is linked to the cultural development of the 20^th century in Italy.