Busseto Library | March 8 – September 26, 2026

It is not uncommon to find dedications, signatures, dense marginal notes, handwritten annotations, and sometimes even drawings in books. These marks very often add significant value to the book, conferring on the copy that contains them the dignity of a unicum.

The Busseto Library of the Fondazione Cariparma holds unsuspected literary and artistic “gems” in its collections, thanks to purchases and donations of personal libraries—among others, the collection of artists’ books from Prof. Corrado Mingardi or that of conductor Fulvio Vernizzi.

Illustrious authors who have been welcome guests of the Busseto institution over the years have also contributed in this regard.

Over time, a core of volumes has thus accumulated, featuring handwritten dedications and drawings by the authors themselves—what librarians technically refer to as copy-specific notes. The heterogeneity of these dedications and notes does not make them any less significant, as they serve as traces and testimonies of stories and the network of personal relationships that existed among many figures of 20th-century Italian culture—and beyond.

Among the illustrious signatures stand out a Nobel Prize winner in Literature, writers, novelists, essayists, musicians, opera singers, illustrators, and athletes.

To highlight these documents, around fifty volumes—accompanied by photographs and biographical notes on the figures or authors mentioned on their pages—are on display in the monumental rooms of the Library. They will guide visitors on an unusual journey through the history of the book.

Opening: Sunday, March 8, 2026, at 10:00 AM

The exhibition is open until September 26, 2026, every Saturday afternoon at 4:30 PM and every second Sunday of the month on the occasion of “Meravigliosa biblioteca” (Wonderful Library). Admission is free.

Info: biblioteca.busseto@fondazionecrp.it Busseto Library, Via Roma 38 – 43011 Busseto (PR) Tel. 0524-92224.