Il Fiduciario: Rassegna di Applicazioni dell'Elettricit\u00e0

Il Fiduciario: Rassegna di Applicazioni dell'Elettricità. Year 5, nos. 14, 16 (October 1935) through Year 9, no. 37 (Oct.-Dec. 1940) (lacking no. 15; 1936-1940 complete). Turin: 1935-1940. Large 8vo, altogether 23 issues bound in two volumes, most 32pp.; profusely illustrated with bw reproductions on various papers, most very good, some toned or lightly foxed; both volumes in paper wrappers with original illustrated covers bound in, orig. covers worn at extremities with light foxing, cover of first issue (March 1935) a bit abraded at hinge and fore-edge. Ex-libris Biblioteca Caproni. Four complete years of this otherwise unrecorded serial provide an illustrated social history of the electrification of Italian industry, architecture, and design during the fascist period. In an era of nationalism and modernization, the publication promoted new, consumer-side applications for electricity and electromechanical industry as well as government and commercial projects. Contents include essays on the lighting of art, window displays, and signage; domestic appliances; electricity in rural Italy; radios; heating; light bulbs; and greenhouses. The symbolic meaning of electricity did not go unacknowledged by the editors. The introduction to no. 32 (July-September 1939) explicitly addresses the significance of light in the “darkness” of war and air-raid blackouts. The photos, cartoons, and advertisements within the magazine reflect this embrace of both the literal and metaphoric power of electricity in late Futurism. Graphic covers are signed by artists including Bernardini, Sinibaldi, Mossello, Bologna, Pompeii, and Spazzapan. A special (96 pp.) issue on “Architects and Electricity” includes an essay by Ettore Sottsass, Sr. Provenance: The Biblioteca Caproni was a substantial private library founded by the aviation pioneer and industrialist Gianni Caproni. SOLD