COMINO (COMIN), GIUSEPPE. - Venetian bookseller and printer of the 18th century, b. at Cittadella, d. at Padua around 1762. From its foundation (1717) he directed the printing house that the brothers Giannantonio and Gaetano Volpi had opened at Padua in their own house and at their own expense, and which was called the Volpi-Cominiana printing house, although the books issued from its presses bear only the name of C. beneath the device depicting a man in the act of shoveling earth, against a against a background of archaeological remains, among which is a large stone bearing the Horatian motto: quidquid sub terra est, in apricum proferet aetas.
The Cominian editions are famous above all for the correctness of their text, particularly of the classics, which the Volpi, famous men of letters, edited with great meticulousness: but also the elegance of the type, although it cannot compete with Bodoni's, is much admired.
The vast activity of C. is attested by the commercial catalogues he himself published: a Doppio catalogo di libri di G. C. (Padua 1742), and a Catalogo di libri cominiani ancora vendibili, co' legittimi loro prezzi (ibid. 1744). The most sought-after work is the Polinia of Giannantonio Volpi, published in 1741 and then consigned to the flames by the author himself: only 13 copies survived, valued today at a very high price, which the reprint of 1763 and three counterfeits produced at the end of the 18th century have helped to make even more valuable.
When the Volpi's activity ceased in 1756, C. continued his enterprise until his death: other editions and many reprints still appeared under his name, until 1782, through the work of his son Angelo, who had taken over the printing house and the stock of books.
Bibliography3 works
Alessandro Pratesi