An Ephemeral Collection

“I’m perfectly aware that it’s not really a publisher’s job to write texts for the books he publishes; but as it happens, I couldn’t help myself.” With those words, Franco Maria Ricci graciously shielded himself from potential charges of seeking the spotlight on the one and only occasion that a text appeared above his signature in the many books he published: a description of frescoes painted by Parmigianino in the Rocca Sanvitale fortress in his hometown of Fontanellato depicting the myth of Diana and Acteon. Still, Franco Maria Ricci was certainly not reluctant for his voice to be heard in his own publications: nearly all his books and every issue of his magazine open with a publisher’s note. A concise selection of these is now available in an exquisite little volume published by Edizioni Henry Beyle.