Museo della carta e della filigrana

Home "Civilization of Writing"

"Civilization of Writing"

The "Civilization of Writing" The "Civilization of Writing" section of the Museum of Paper, arranged inside the monumental cloister of Saint Benedict Church, houses our prized collection of printing machines which date back to the 19th and 20th century. The machines on display were donated by the Museum of Paper and Printing formerly SIVA (National body of pulp and paper) of Rome and the Ciambricco of  Fabriano and Brambilla of Milano families. These invaluable pieces have been renovated and brought back to working condition by Antonio Scaccabarozzi, vice President of Museums of Paper and Printing association of Italy. Opening Hours Momentarily only visitable on request to send to mcf@comune.fabriano.an.it Location of the establishment
We are located in Piazza Francesco Fabi Altini inside Saint Benedict church's cloister.
Entrance to Saint Benedict's cloister.
The interior of Saint Benedict's cloister:
Carta e Stampa: Eccellenze a contatto
The History Paper and Printing still are key elements for the transmission of knowledge. Without the technological innovations introduced by Fabriano's master papermakers during the thirteenth century, which led to the birth of Western Paper, printing in Europe surely would come much later.
The wide availability of durable high quality paper, in fact, led to a gradual overcoming of vellum and to the needing of a faster method for transcription of documents reserved to a very limited group of users. Johann Genfleisch von Gutenberg, a goldsmith born in Mainz at the end of XIV Century, on February 23, 1455 succeeded in squaring the circle after years of attempts by developing the technique of printing with movable type, and, above all, by inventing the printing press that allowed him, in just three years of working, to make 180 copies of the famous 42-line Bible, in practice the same time taken by a scribe to make a single copy.
The visit of the section, included in the normal ticket of admission to the Museum of Paper and Watermark, will allow visitors to retrace the milestones in the history of printing. The  section of MCF offers, in fact, further investigation on the various evolutionary stages of the printing process and among them the introduction, in 1798, of lithography due to the genius OF Aloys Senefelder, a technique still widely in use.
The museum project has been made by James Clough, a member of the Italian Calligraphy Association and professor of  lettering, theory and history of typography at the Polytechnic University of Milan, the ISIA of Urbino and University of Lugano.