Angelo & Gabriele Marchesi

Legatoria Conti Borbone

Bookbinder

The culture of beauty

Legatoria Conti Borbone was founded nearly 150 years ago
To this day it is a reference point for artistic bookbinding
The city of Milan awarded it the title of Historical Workshop

The Marchesi brothers Angelo, Gabriele and Gianluca are the direct descendants of Carlo Domenico Conti Borbone, who opened his bookbinding shop in Milan in 1873. Of his many artistic bindings, the Legatoria Conti Borbone still preserves three prestigious and beautifully bound volumes published in 1885 for Cardinal Massaia. In 1919, the original workshop moved to Corso Magenta, where it remained for over a century. The three brothers (since 2000 officially at the helm of the family business) relentlessly continue to expand and innovate their refined products. In the meantime, Gianluca retired, and Gabriele and Angelo relocated their atelier to Milan's Porta Romana disctrict. Wandering amongst the shelves which are piled high in volumes, leather and paper, and into the fascinating atelier with its hundreds of tools, you can get closer to the secrets of "a 'lesser' art, of course, but still an art," as the Marchesi brothers love to say.

Interview

When did you first approach this art?: Since we were children. We have always been in contact with the working environment of the bookbinding workshop where my father, who was a person rich in historical and humanistic culture, educated us in the artisan work and in the culture of beauty.
Is the process entirely manual?: Except for the cutting of the paper, everything here is handmade, including the gold print and impressions on the volumes, the paper marbling, the stitching of books, the painting and assembly of leather on desks or other paper products (desk pads, containers, waste paper baskets and so on).
What are your sources of inspiration?: The most varied and unthinkable! We are deeply inspired by references of the past, and at the same time by the stylistic and functional contingencies of the present. Even the observation of existing objects or situations often stimulates new interpretations.
How do you combine tradition and innovation?: We keep the tradition alive in the entire manufacturing process, while the innovation comes in the adoption of contemporary materials (glues, papers, canvases and so on) and obviously in the design.

Angelo & Gabriele Marchesi are expert artisans they began their career in 1992