Enrico Mazzanti died on 3 September 1893 in Florence. His father, Alessandro Mazzanti, was a painter and restorer. Having studied engineering, he later became a designer and illustrator. Mazzanti worked first for the publishing house of Paggi and later for Alberto Bemporad’s Publications and Le Monnier, for instance.
His name is linked to, and he became famous with, the first edition volume of The adventures of Pinocchio. Story of a puppet (Le avventure di Pinocchio. Storia di un burattino) of Carlo Collodi (1826-1890), published in 1883 by Libreria Editrice Felice Paggi in Florence.
It was only in 2010 that he attracted some academic interest in the conference “Figures and stories – writers, illustrators, editors for children in Tuscany between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries” (”Le figure e le storie – scrittiori, illustratori editori per l’infanzia in Toscana tra Otto e Novecento”) with the paper and work of Maria Enrica Carbognin and Lia Madorsky; entitled “Enrico Mazzanti protagonist of illustration for boys between 1870 and 1890“ (“Enrico Mazzanti protagonista dell’illustrazione per ragazzi tra il 1870 e il 1890”).
The adventures of Pinocchio, frontispiece, 1883
The adventures of Pinocchio, frontispiece, 1883, colored by Daniel Donna.
The Talking Cricket, from “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Colodi.
Good morning. I have just found your website, and I realized you made a big mistake, unfortunately connected with my name. Enrico Mazzanti’s biography was revealed in 2010 during the conference you quoted, but this illustrator did not die in 1910 but he died in 1893. See also http://www.letteraturadimenticata.it at the page ILLUSTRATORI M-R
Please make a correction in your website, because my reputation is seriously damaged. Thank you.
Maria Enrica Carbognin
Dear Maria,
On behalf of the blog author and the Italian Art Society, I extend our sincere apologies.
The typo has now been rectified and I have reviewed the blog (without further edits) as the date of Enrico Mazzanti’s death is clearly the author’s error and not referenced directly to nor derived from your work.
Yours sincerely,
Samantha Hughes-Johnson
Blog Editor