Major Publishing Houses

Major Publishing Houses in the World

United States

In the United States , the main publishing house is Hounghton Mifflin, which mainly deals with the publication of educational books , focused for example on mathematics or reading . In particular, it publishes reference texts, manuals , fiction books and essays .

United Kingdom

Two of the major publishing groups are based in the United Kingdom , particularly in London: Pearson and Reed Elsevier . Pearson Education is a British-owned education publishing and evaluation service for schools and businesses, as well as directly for students. Pearson Education was renamed Pearson in 2011 and split into an international and a North American division. Among the Pearson books , the catalog of which is available on the homepage of the Pearson publishing house , are primarily Pearson school books and Pearson university books. In addition, Pearson books are often also available online, in the Pearson digital books section, which also includes Pearson teacher books. Elsevier, on the other hand, is one of the largest publishers which operates in particular in the publication of medical and scientific publications. Another significant fact is the presence of the two most important and oldest publishing houses in the world: Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press.

France

70% of the country's publishing houses reside in Paris. Until the 2000s, the French market was dominated by Hachette, later overtaken by Groupe de la Citè. The hachette publishing house was founded in 1826 by louis hachette, and today it is part of the lagardère group. It is the third largest publisher in the world in consumer publishing (which includes both fiction books and poetry books , both created according to the public to which they are addressed) and in the publication of school books, the first in France and the second in Spain . The hachette books and the major works sector, from scholastic to extra-scholastic publishing, are therefore configured as the first space of action of the hachette publishing house , which has also been active since 1988 in the children's book sector. Within the catalog of the hachette editore , available on the home page of the publishing house, it is in fact possible to immediately browse the hachette books for children , which include the hachette books disney , but also the classic books written for children, such as divine comedy , or the mythology category for children . Other equally important sectors for the hachette publishing house are that of comics , which include, for example, marvels , or the collections identified by the publishing house or, again, the modeling category. The hachette publishing house has a vast distribution network, spread across 32 countries: in Italy it has acquired the rusconi group and the Italian-French editions. Les Presses de la Citè is a French publishing house founded in 1944 by Sven Nielsen who mainly dealt with translating American novels into French . Already a few years later the publishing house expands, first by buying Amiot-Dumont, known for its collection of easy novels and travel books , and then merging with GP and Solar editions, then launching the series of paperback books , Presses -Pocket. In “Pocket” classic books , essays , and various fiction authors are published. Following the death of Sven Nielse, Les Presses de la Citè merged with Vivendi Universal Publishing which then became Vivendi, itself part of Edits. In the publishing house it is possible to find literary genres treated more, including children's books , manga , art books , classic books and cookery books ; but also thrillers , comics and competitions or games.

Another French publishing house that should be mentioned is Éditions Robert Laffont, founded in 1941 by Robert Laffont. It is a French publisher which essentially publishes biographies , testimonies , books on esotericism , memoirs , French and foreign literature translated into French, including detective novels and spy books . The "Bouquins" collection, created in 1979 in collaboration with the Bompiani publishing house, is probably the one that most distinguishes this publisher from its competitors: alongside the classic books , in fact, it gives space to science fiction books , thrillers , adventures and the soap Opera. The publishing house was acquired by the Presses de la Citè group in 1990 and became part of the Edits group, the second largest French publishing group, in 1997.

Germany

The German market is dominated by a single large group, Bertelsmann, which ranks first in both the paper and multimedia sectors. The German publishing house was founded in 1835 in Gutersloch by Carl B. and initially its production included theology books , school books and children's books . After 1949, the German publisher's interests extended to literature , treatises , cartography and encyclopaedia . Today it is one of the largest multimedia companies in the world.

Historical libraries in Italy

What is the oldest library in Italy?

The oldest Italian bookshop still in business is the bozzi bookshop in Genoa, founded in 1810 by Antonio Beuf. He became a supplier of books for the princes of the royal house of Savoy and for the navy of the kingdom of Sardinia, thus specializing in sea books and local history . Today, the bozzi bookshop remains a point of reference in the sale of books within the maritime sector, in local Genoese history and as regards the sale of university books. The bozzi bookshop was visited during their travels in Genoa by some illustrious writers, such as Alessandro Manzoni , Charles Dickens , Herman Melville , Henry James , but also Luigi Pirandello and Eugenio Montale .

Northern Italy

In Lombardy , noteworthy for their historical and cultural value are the Arnoldi bookshop (Bergamo), the Bocca bookshop and the Tarantola bookshop Sesto San Giovanni (Milan), the Cattaneo bookshop (Lecco) and the Serra Tarantola bookshop (Brescia). Less known is the Carù bookshop, located in Gallarate. The Arnoldi Bergamo bookshop specializes in the sale of fiction books , tourist guides and school books. It is possible to connect directly to the Arnoldi bookshop website by pressing the following link. Two important historical bookshops are located in Milan: the tarantola sesto san giovanni bookshop and the mouth bookshop. The first dates back to 1858 and is one of the founders of the Bancarella Prize (1953) and is still one of its major promoters. In 2018, the Tarantola Sesto San Giovanni bookshop was awarded as Best Bookshop in Italy by the Mauri Foundation in Venice. The extensive catalogue, available directly on the library website, which has more than 40,000 volumes, ranges in all genres and types, from fiction books to essays , from art books and photography books to children's books and children's books . The historic Bocca bookshop opened in Turin in 1775. Thereafter, the bookshop had five locations in the past: Paris, Florence, Rome, Turin and Milan, although today the Bocca Milano bookshop is the only one that survived. The history of the company followed that of Italy for a long time as the Bocca bookshop printed for the Savoys. A peculiarity of the bookshop catalog is that it allows customers to search for a book based on its title, its author or the publishing house that published it, but also in reference to the historical period to which the book refers (for example eight hundred books , six hundred books or ancient egypt books ) or to the subject, such as painting books , furniture , art books or essays . In Brescia there is another important historical bookshop in Lombardy: the Tarantola bookshop, which also takes the form of a publishing house, with more than 100,000 thousand publications of fiction books , essays , old and hard to find books. Also associated is the Tarantola antiquarian bookshop, which provides a rich section of volumes of modern art and antiques , from simple prints to rare and antique books to consult and purchase. Finally, the Cattaneo bookshop in Lecco specializes in the sale of fiction books and essays for adults, teenagers and children , as well as the latest book novelties . The catalog on the main page also gives access to mysteries , essays for studying science, philosophy and current affairs. In the shops of the Cattaneo bookshop you can find books by publishers such as Sellerio, Iperborea, NN Editore and Elliot, in line with the idea that quality is often found in small numbers.

In Piedmont , the Paravia bookshop and the Fissore bookshop were set up as historical bookshops , however they have recently closed permanently. In the region, the Giovannacci bookshop located in Vercelli remains counted as a historic bookshop, an independent bookshop founded in 1907 by Giulio Giovannacci and belonging to the same family for four generations. The Giovannacci bookshop is configured as the oldest in the city, one of the first in Piedmont. On the main page of the library, you immediately notice how it gives space to local history books , books for competitions and university books, those in the legal sector and manuals . An important space within the catalog is also dedicated to rare books . A second historic Piedmontese bookshop is the Goggia bookshop, the oldest in the city of Asti. Since 1982, the owner has been Luigi Doano.

In Veneto we find two historic bookshops, the La Toletta bookshop, located in Venice, and the Galla bookshop in Vicenza. Both are configured as the oldest of their cities. The Galla bookshop is one of the oldest bookshops in Italy, founded by Giovanni Galla. A wide range of fiction books , essays , art books , architecture books and comics are available in the bookstore catalogue. Founded in 1933, the La Toletta bookshop is the oldest bookshop in Venice. First of all, it is configured as a bookshop, which offers, alongside the new products and best sellers , many books from the "catalogue center" by publishers such as einaudi , adelphi , laterza , mondadori , rizzoli , bompiani , but also longanese , SE , marsilio and other. Secondly, the La Toletta bookshop proposes itself as an event space, and, moreover, since 2008 it is also a publisher, with more than 150 titles in the La Toletta bookshop catalogue, ranging from military history books to fiction books , with a particular attention to books on Venice . All information relating to the La Toletta bookshop is available on the bookshop 's main page.

Center of Italy

Emilia Romagna is home to four of the historic bookshops in Italy, respectively the small theater bookshop in Reggio Emilia, the Nanni bookshop in Bologna, the Rimini bookshop in Rimini and the Docet bookshop, which takes the form of an antiquarian bookshop, so further details will be dedicated later. The Nanni bookshop is known as the oldest bookshop in Bologna, it was started in 1825 by the Marchesi family and then taken over by Armando Nanni. Since the Second World War, the Nanni bookshop has promoted initiatives to make the public aware of antique bookstores , initiating a systematic search for rare books , backing it up with an editorial policy which has allowed the reprinting of works of philosophy , books of medicine , natural science books , engineering books and literature books . On the home page of the Nanni bookshop it is possible to browse through the extensive catalogue, as well as the Nanni bookshop bologna history. The Rimini bookshop was born in 1931, founded by Fiorenzo Mazzini. The home page of the bookshop immediately refers to the large catalog available, where it offers its own book sale . There are Italian and foreign fiction books , poetry , classics , theater , art books , photography books , fashion and design books , gastronomy , history and philosophy books , politics , current affairs , comics and the vast repertoire dedicated to children's books and children's books , as well as volumes on local history and culture. Finally, the small library of the theater is worthy of note, located in the historic center of Reggio Emilia.

In Tuscany there is a historic bookshop registered in the association of antiquarian booksellers of Italy , it is the Belforte bookshop in Livorno, publisher and bookseller since 1805.

Also in Umbria there is a historic bookshop: it is the haughty bookshop, located in Terni. The book sale includes more than 400,000 thousand titles, ranging from the most popular genres, from art books to politics books to mystery books to history books to manga and so on. The entire catalogue, together with the events organized by the Alterocca bookshop, are on its official page.

Moving to Lazio , Rome hosts two historic bookshops: the first is the Cesaretti antiquarian bookshop, which will be explored later; the second is the Tombolini bookshop. The website of the Tombolini bookstore immediately informs the customer of the sale of books on which it focuses, in particular texts on medieval history , books on politics , books on sociology , books on philosophy and philology .

Southern Italy

As far as southern Italy is concerned, some of the historic bookshops are found in Puglia and Sicily.

In Puglia , precisely in Bari, the Laterza bookshop is located. It is a historic bookshop , founded at the end of the 19th century by the Laterza brothers, which later became the Laterza publishing house in 1901.

In Sicily , however, according to the Association of Antiquarian Booksellers of Italy (ALAI), there are five historic bookshops: the Casa del libro bookshop, the Cavallotto bookshop, the Ciofalo bookshop, the Lapaglia bookshop and the Paolino bookshop. The house of the book bookshop, based in Syracuse, also known as the Mascali bookshop, has been active since 1930 and, among all the books for sale , which can be consulted on the home page of the bookshop, there are also rare books and collector's books . In Catania there are two historic bookshops: the Lapaglia bookshop and the Cavallotto bookshop. This second certainly deserves further study. The Cavallotto bookshop, in fact, is a historic bookshop in Catania, the first self-service bookshop in southern Italy. Since 1954 the Cavallotto bookshop has offered a vast assortment of books with different themes: fiction books and essays , local history books , art books , tourism books , manuals , technical-scientific texts , school and university books. Furthermore, the bookshop activity is accompanied by the publishing activity with the creation of the Cavallotto publishing house, which publishes cultured and refined works , constantly enriching its catalog mainly through history books , the traditions of the Sicilian territory, including gastronomy and with a of university books. The entire catalog together with all the information on the Cavallotto bookshop is available directly on the home page of the bookshop. The last historical bookshop that ALAI offers on Sicilian soil is the Paolino bookshop, based in Ragusa.