GIOLITO DE FERRARI, GIOVANNI GABRIELE, called GABRIEL. – He was the greatest bookseller, publisher, and printer of this name, b. shortly after the first decade of the 16th century, d. in the first months of 1578.
He displayed prodigious activity, which falls between 1536 and 1578, with an increasing and continually improved output through which, from his “Libreria della Fenice” in Venice, he dominated the publishing field for a large part of his century; indeed, he was the publisher of most of the literary figures of his time. He also published numerous religious, ascetic, and devotional texts, from which he formed two collections entitled «Ghirlanda spirituale», in 14 vols., and «Fiori», in 12 vols.
BIBL.: Fundamental: S. Bongi, Annali di Gabriel G. de F., 2 vols., Roma 1890-95; additions by P. Camerini, Notizia sugli Annali giolitici di S. Bongi, in Atti e memorie Accademia di scienze, lettere ed arti in Padova, 51 (1934-35), pp. 103-238. Giannetto Avanzi