Bruno Munari (1907–1998) is the definition of prolific, which otherwise means to present in large numbers or quantities; plentiful. The large numbers in this case are the books he designed and/or authored from 1929 through 1992, as industriously chronicled with bibliographic annotations translated from Italian in Girogio Maffei’s MUNARI’S BOOKS: The Definitive Collection of Book Designs by Bruno Munari (Princeton Architectural Press).
When Munari began designing and illustrating he was under the umbrella of the Italian Futurists, but as an artist of rare distinction he transcended his modernist influences to become one of the leading advocates and theorists of experimental design, authorial voices on form and content, and a popular children’s and adult book creator. In recent years his catalog of books and ephemera has enjoyed continued life owing to reprints by Corriani Edizioni. Munari’s book of books is the first translation of their original edition.
This collection will take your breath away, from his historic metallic bound and fastened L’Anguria LIrica (1934), an icon of Italian Futurist bookmaking (above), through his interactive kids books, including Nella Nebbia Di Milano (1968) and his pictorially didactic works, like Bruno Munari’s Zoo (above) and Le Macchine di Munari (below), and his treatise on the circle (and also triangle and square).
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