Signed Pepi Merisio - Citta Murate - 1986

Exceptionally signed copy on the title page by Pepi Merisio (1931 – 2021), unavailable on the internet as a signed copy. 216 pages and 172 photographs, mostly in color, full-page or for some double-page with detailed captions, Italian text by Geno Pampaloni, publisher’s blue cloth binding with the title embossed in white on the cover and back, with a illustrated dust jacket on the cover.

In Italy there are many fortified towns with walled enclosures, tall towers that allow observation of the surroundings, and gates all around the towns to permit entry when allowed. These Italian towns had to protect themselves from those called the “Saracens,” because in 1480 the Turks landed at Otranto, in the Kingdom of Naples, and managed to hold out for several months. The Ottoman power also contributed to the strengthening of pirates who imposed their law along the coasts of the Mediterranean. However these assaults were not the only ones that Italian towns had to endure, as they themselves engaged in numerous conflicts. At the end of the 14th century, the Milanese thus began a policy of conquest and expansion toward Venetia, then toward central Italy. At the same time, Florence pursued an aggressive policy in Tuscany. Thus the assault on Faenza in November 1500 saw clash between Papal troops and the city of Faenza. Medieval Italy was a land of conflict. The opposition between the Guelphs, favorable to the pope, and the Ghibellines, supporters of the Holy Roman Empire, long structured the political life of Italian city-states. Moreover, the Venetian-Ottoman war of 1537–1540 pitted the Ottoman Empire under Suleiman the Magnificent, initially aided by France, against the Republic of Venice. Only Italian unity managed to bring an end to these internal wars, but the architecture of the cities remained marked by it, giving them undeniable patrimonial beauty here photographed by Pepi Merisio.

Pepi Merisio, independent photographer, spent almost his entire life on the territory of Bergamo, which he explored in its full extent, traversing its plains and valleys as well as the high-mountain villages. He quickly gained significant international recognition; in July 1966 the Camera magazine published in Lucerne, Switzerland, a substantial feature on him in French. Then-director of Camera, Roméo Martinez, introduced him to the Les Grands photographes collection, and Pepi Merisio signed with Gianni Berengo Gardin, whom he regarded as a brother in photography, the volume on Latium for the Touring Club of Italy.

The illustrious photographer Ferdinando Scianna declared in 2021 upon Pepi Merisio’s death: “I met Pepi in 1967 as I had just arrived from Sicily, and he already had great international prestige.” “He had just won an international prize with the report on Uncle Angelo’s death; many gravitated around him, and I had great admiration... He had chosen his visual relationship with the world, the world he wanted to speak about and the way he wanted to do it... He had a more political-cultural engagement than direct... He was a great anthropologist of the peasant world. His archives are a cultural treasure of which we will continue to need to understand where we come from and where we are going, if indeed we are going somewhere.”" (https://bergamo.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/21_febbraio_04/ferdinando-sciannalui-ci-fa-capire-dove-veniamo-19b7d422-66bc-11eb-8ada-57b39586265a.shtml)

Book from my personal collection kept with the utmost care, in excellent overall condition with very slight signs of use and time-wear on the cover and plastic coating on the back (see photo). Shipped protected with reinforced packaging and guaranteed international trackable postal service. In case of multiple purchases, possible grouped shipment with reimbursement of overpaid postage via Paypal.

1.7 kg excluding packaging.