COMINO (COMIN), GIUSEPPE. — A Venetian bookseller and printer of the 18th century, born in Cittadella, died in Padua around 1762. From its founding (1717) he directed the printing house that the brothers Giannantonio and Gaetano Volpi had opened in their own home in Padua at their own expense, and which was known as the Volpi-Cominiana press, although the books produced by its presses bore only the name of C. under the imprint depicting a man in the act of shoveling earth against a backdrop of archaeological ruins, including a large stone bearing the Horatian motto: *quidquid sub terra est, in aprimum proferet aetas*.
The Cominian editions are renowned above all for the correctness of their texts, particularly those of the classics, which the Volpi, distinguished men of letters, supervised with great meticulousness; yet the elegance of the typefaces, though not able to rival the Bodoni types, is highly prized.
The extensive 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 *Polimnia* of Giannantonio Volpi, issued in 1741 and later burned by the author himself; only thirteen copies survived, now valued at a very high price, a value further enhanced by the 1763 reprint and three counterfeit editions produced toward the end of the 18th century.
After the Volpi brothers ceased their activity in 1756, C. continued the enterprise until his death; further editions and many reprints appeared under his name until 1782, produced by his son Angelo, who had taken over the press and the book stock.