FISA - PROVE DI STAMPA PINOCCHIO 1950

PINOCCHIO — ORIGINAL PRINT PROOFS, MARCH 1950

I ceded an archival graphic file from the era dedicated to Pinocchio: the print proofs of a series of advertising signs signed with the FISA initials, survived together with the machine sheets and the proofs of approval.

A pencil annotation kept with the sheets records the print date — MARCH 1950 — and the edition: 8,250 copies.

THE THREE SUBJECTS
• ARTIST — Geppetto at the workbench with Pinocchio
• BOY — Pinocchio chained in the kennel (chapter XXII)
• FIRST STEPS — Pinocchio carried away by the carabinieri (chapter III)

All with a badge reading "PRODUCT OF ITALY". Pinocchio in a traditional Italian version, not Disney.

— LIST OF PIECES —

1) ARTIST, sheet 50×70 cm, two subjects paired.
State: the best of the two copies. Central horizontal crease, slight foxing at the edges, intact corners. Rich colors.

2) ARTIST, sheet 50×70 cm, two subjects paired (second copy).
State: foxing along the right edge and in the upper right corner, small losses and tears at the corners, more pronounced creases. Shows pencil-work marks in the left margin.

3) FIRST STEPS, sheet 50×35 cm, two subjects paired.
State: foxing across the entire support, some areas intruding into the orange field of the lower image. Central crease. Colors nevertheless bright.

4) BOY, sheet 50×35 cm in portrait orientation, single subject.
State: the best preserved of the group. Horizontal and one vertical crease, paper slightly wavy at the edges, minimal foxing in the upper right. registration marks and trimming marks visible.

5) IMPOSED SHEET, 59×74 cm, with the three subjects mounted together.
It is the printer’s sheet from which the individual signs were cut. Bears pencil annotations directly on the image.
State: the most compromised. Tattered edges, missing corners, creases crossing the images, diffuse foxing.

6) FIRST STEPS, 25×35 cm — PROOF OF APPROVAL (bon à tirer).
Red pen marginal notes with the measurements and the indication of the white trim, plus two approval signatures.
State: good. Light crease, small nicks at the edges.

— A DETAIL FOR THOSE WHO KNOW —
At the bottom on some proofs there is a hatched rectangle in pencil: it is the space reserved for the brand band, not yet inserted. These proofs are therefore prior to the client’s logo being typeset, which indeed does not appear on any sheet.

— ABOUT THE AUTHOR —
The initials FISA do not appear in the catalogues of poster printers.