With a history spanning almost two hundred years, Giunti Editore is one of the largest and best known publishing groups in Italy.

Villa la Loggia in Florence, headquarters of Giunti Group

It all started in 1841, with a small printing and publishing house founded in Florence by Alessandro and Felice Paggi. They focused on scholarly, children and juvenile fiction, and in 1883 they published the first edition of one of the most translated novels in the world: The adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Lorenzini, who wrote under the pen name of Carlo Collodi.

In 1889 the printing house was sold to Roberto and Enrico Bemporad. Bemporad established a reputation in the field of translated children’s literature - publishing Alcott’s Little Women and Andersen’s Short stories - and in the field of Italian contemporary literature, publishing Pirandello’s works. However, due to the enactment of racial laws, Enrico Bemporad was expelled from the company and the company itself changed its name to Marzocco.

After World War II Renato Giunti, who had worked with the Paggi brothers and later with Enrico Bemporad, became the company’s CEO and initiated a successful expansion strategy: in 1949 he bought Editrice Universitaria, then Barbèra in 1960 and finally Aldo Martello in 1973.

Two years later Sergio Giunti took his father’s place and then in 1985 he launched an important editorial project that included six journals focusing on art, history, medicine, music and science. The signature Gruppo Editoriale Giunti was founded in 1990 to include all of the group’s imprints. The expansion strategy continued with the acquisition of Demetra S.r.l. – a small publisher focusing on handbooks – in 1991 and then Dami - a leading publisher of children’s books – in 2003. In the same year, the company’s name changed again to Giunti Editore S.r.l.

A long and continuing tradition dating back to Italy’s Risorgimento, a time when the country was fighting for its unification and independence, make Giunti Editore naturally committed to bringing culture and knowledge to readers of all kinds, with books that are both scientifically accurate and easy to read, books that speak to a wide range of readers. Giunti Editore is also devoted to promoting the circulation of books, in the belief that reading can significantly contribute to a country’s growth and development.

Today, Giunti Editore is made up of several different imprints: eight for children - Giunti Kids, Giunti Junior, Dami Editore, Fatatrac, Motta Junior, Editoriale Scienza, Edizioni del Borgo,Touring Junior - and seven for adults: Giunti, Demetra, De Vecchi Editore, Giorgio Nada Editore, Slow Food Editore, Touring Editore and Black Velvet. A special imprint is dedicated to primary school books: Giunti Scuola.

Giunti Editore is also a leading chain of bookshops boasting almost two hundred stores throughout the country: 145 shops – the Giunti al Punto bookstores – are fully owned by the Giunti Editore group, and another two dozen Mel Bookstores and Ubik bookstores are owned by Giunti & Messaggerie – a joint venture started in January 2010 which focuses on wholesale, retail sales, and e-commerce.

The publishing list is as diverse and stimulating as the readers themselves, and it focuses on books for infants and toddlers, children’s fiction, scholarly, young adult, psychology, music, art, literature, history, science but also hobbies, tourism, cookbooks, health, alternative medicine and much more, publishing in many forms, from social journals to non-fiction and literary fiction; from educational course materials to textbooks. Giunti Editore also means publishing with an eye to the future as it provides readers with both offline and online resources. Some good examples are Art Online (www.artonline.it), a leading web portal on art, and www.ibs.it, an e-commerce and e-book portal.

The list continues to grow and to embrace new subjects and writers. Just as the readers’ needs and taste change, Giunti Editore evolves with them.

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