[click the above images for larger versions -I've touched up the majority: background artifact for the mostpart]
Pinocchio will be 125 years old in July. Carlo Collodi published the first of 36 episodes of La Storia di un Burratino -- 'The Story of a Marionette' -- in a weekly childrens' paper, Il Giornale dei Bambini. The last episode came out 2 years later in 1883 and was compiled into a book shortly afterwards.Ironically, the story of a wooden puppet who would go on to lead an independent life beyond his creator became reality as Collodi didn't live to see the success of his allegorical writing.
The popularity of the story was assured in 1911 when Attilio Mussino produced a large number of illustrations to animate Pinocchio's life. It was a dream gig for an illustrator. Mussino employed a wide range of illustrating styles and was able to capture the humour, pathos and empathy of the characters and story lines.
- The wonderful Illuminated Books website have digitized a 400+ page American first edition of The Adventures of Pinocchio from 1926 which include Mussino's art work. There are multiple sized images available.
- The Adventures of Pinocchio at Project Gutenburg sans illustrations.
- Attilio Mussino at Lambiek.
- Carlo Collodi at Wikipedia.
- Pinocchio at Wikipedia.
Beautiful book ,I love Pinocchio and hope you have see the fabulous Comencini movie.
ReplyDeleteNo. I think I saw the Disney film as a kid.
ReplyDeleteComencini 1971 - a good communist film?! Heh. I'd like to see that!
My email is on the front page Alfredo. Gmale = gmail. I've sent you a message anyway.
ReplyDeleteAlfredo also runs the AlfredoM Illuminated Manuscripts site.
Awesome images.
ReplyDeleteI just discovered BibliOdyssey, and I think it`s wonderful. Great idea, and for a bibliophile like me it`s splendid. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi, just read this blog with a lot of interest as we are studying the classic in the double unit here at Illawarra Primary. My students have just done some Pinocchio portraits. I have also just started collecting Pinocchio publications and movie versions of the book.
ReplyDeleteGreetings Caroline.
ReplyDeleteSo that's Illawarra Tasmania then? Not Illawarra Sydney? If it was the latter, you would just be around the corner.
I still think the original illustrations are the best! I hope the kids enjoy it all.
Yes, Illawarra in Tassie. There are a few schools with this name in Australia. The originals of Pinocchio are fantastic. I also like the illustrations of Roberto Innocenti.
ReplyDeleteme encanta las imagenes de pinocho.
ReplyDeletemuy buen trabajo
I have an Italian edition ("Le Avventure di Pinocchio" published in 1973 by "Casa editrice Bemporad Marzocco" di Firenze as part of the collection "I classici del fanciullo") which I believed was complete and with all available illustrations by Atilio Mussino, but it seems I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteIt only has little drawings, not those "illuminated chapter starts" nor pages composed that nicely.
Oh, what a pity.
No matter that, I'm uploading some scans of those images in my blog if you want to take a look at them.
(I finally made the post about my copy of Pinocchio and I uploaded it into my blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm telling you because I dared and translated part of this article of yours in it.
I tried to make clear it was your work and added a link to your blog. Even though, in case that you don't agree with what I did I will immediatly delete that translation and ask for your forgiveness.)
I was forgetting something:
ReplyDeleteThank you, anyway.
Thanks Fernando - no problemo.
ReplyDeleteFernando's link.