FRANCESCO MARCOLI. — Bookseller, publisher, and printer, born in Forlì in the early years of the 16th century and died in Venice after 1559. Having settled in that city, between 1535 and 1559 (with intervals in the years 1541 and 1546–49), he practiced the art of printing there, producing numerous editions of Italian works and some musical books.
Among the many authors he chose are P. Aretino, L. Ariosto, P. Bembo, D. Cavalca, F. Petrarca, and particularly A. F. Doni, one of the founders of the Accademia Pellegrina, of which M. was secretary and printer.
M. is credited with about 150 editions, almost all printed in italic type of various sizes; these are of notable importance for the correctness of the texts, the abundance of illustrations, and the rarity of the copies. Particularly noteworthy is the work *Le ingeniose sorti* (1540 and 1550), one of the finest illustrated books of the 16th century.