Special Collections
Mario Ramous
1. GENERAL INFORMATION
1.1 Library
San Girolamo University Library - University of Urbino Carlo Bo
1.2 Collection name
Mario Ramous
1.3 Biographical notes
Mario Ramous (Milan May 18, 1924 - Bologna July 8, 1999). After studying at the Universities of Florence and Bologna, he started working in 1947 for the newspaper “Il Progresso d’Italia” in Bologna as an art critic, a role he would dearly keep for about ten years, gradually shifting his focus towards literary and linguistic research topics. During this decade, he signed over two hundred essays and articles in newspapers and magazines: these works despite being related to visual language, aimed to an investigation to the stylistic structures of aesthetic communication in its broadest sense.
In 1950, he started working for the Cappelli publishing house in Bologna, where he held the position of director for twenty-five years. He created several series, such as “Universale”, which covered various topics from literature to theater, history, and science; “Biblioteca dell'Ottocento Italiano”, edited by Gaetano Mariani and “Dal soggetto al film”, edited by Renzo Renzi. Thanks to these works, among others, Cappelli became one of the main editors in the Italian publishing landscape.
At the same time, he began his literary carrear (his first book of poems, “La memoria, il messaggio”, with a preface by Salvatore Quasimodo, was published in 1951), progressively refining his stylistic and metrics, as underlined by Giorgio Bàrberi Squarotti and Pietro Bonfiglioli respectively in the prefaces to “Quantità e qualità” (Bologna-Turin 1968) and “Macchinanaturale” (Milan 1975).
Additionally, Ramous dedicated his time to a revaluation of Latin classics (some examples of which are found in “La memoria, il messaggio”), regarding them not just as poetic translations from one language system to another, but more as critical operations aimed at digging into the roots of poetry. So from his first Horatian translations, “Il libro delle odi” (Bologna 1954), with an appendix by Alfredo Ghiselli, we get to the peak of his research with th fifth edition of the complete works of Catullus (Milan 1983), Virgil's “Georgiche” (Milan 1984), “Elegie del Corpus Tibullianum” (Milan 1988), and “Opere” of Horace (Milan 1988).
In the 1950s, Francesco Flora gave Ramous the possibility of working with the editorial board of “Letterature moderne”. Ramous also worked with Francesco Flora on his “Grammatica italiana” (Bologna 1956), reaffirming his linguistic interests. The 1950s also marked his friendship with mentors like Manara Valgimigli and Concetto Marchesi.
In the 1960s and 1970s he focused his studies primarily on literary history and its theories, and linguistic disciplines. He also published five poetry collections and two translations of Horace and Catullus.
In the 1970s, Ramous contributed to the Garzanti’s “Enciclopedia europea”, where he revised all the linguistics entries. In 1975, he published the first edition of the translation of all Catullus's poems, with an introduction by Luca Canali, a translation he would completely revise in the fifth edition (1983), which included an extensive introductory essay. In 1976, he wrote the introductory essay to Horace's “Satire”, a critical effort that resurfaced with the the translation of Virgil's “Georgiche” in 1982 and later on with his works of Horace and Tibullus.
In 1984, he published “La metrica”, addressing the theoretical issues underlying poetic communication.
Meanwhile, he authored six volumes of poetry from 1971 to 1988 beside translating the whole Tibullus and Horace’s works. He als taught Aesthetics and Metrics at the University of Urbino.
Mario Ramous passed away in Bologna on July 8, 1999.
1.4 Date and methods of acquisition
The collection was donated to the University of Urbino by the family in the early 2000s
1.5 Collection history
The collection consists of Ramous’ personal library. Beside the author’s works, it comprises material related to humanities subjects: Italian and Latin literature, literary criticism, art, aesthetics, philosophy, and a substantial collection of series volumes from the 1950s to the 1990s.
1.6 Collection increase
No further material is expected to be added to the collection.
1.7 Collection indexing
The books were all organized by subject, except for two sections: FR-01, where Mario Ramous' works are located, and FR-09, where are collected series from significant publishing houses relevant to the study of the history of publishing in the second half of the 20th century.
1.8 Collection accessibility
The collection, catalogued and made available to the public, can be accessed online and on open shelves.
2. DESCRIPTION
2.1 Extent
The collection consists of around 6100 units.
2.2 Scope and content
Humanities.
2.3 Identificazione, ordinamento e collocazione
The collection has been divided by subjects in the following locations:
FR-01 Mario Ramous' works
FR-02 Poetry
FR 03 Italian authors and anthologies of Italian texts
FR-04 Italian language and metrics
FR-05 History of literature and literary criticism
FR-06 Foreign authors
FR-07 Art and aesthetics (philosophy)
FR-08 History and miscellaneous
FR-09 Series and publishing houses
2.4 State of conservation
Well preserved.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND DOCUMENTATION
3.1 Bibliography and documentation
Works by Mario Ramous:
Poetry
La memoria, il messaggio, with a preface by S. Quasimodo, Cappelli, Bologna 1951
Il presente, l'affetto, Libr. Ant. Palmaverde, Bologna 1954;
Nuove poesie, Cappelli, Bologna 1956
109/26965, La Svolta, Urbino 1965
Programma n°, L'Immagine, Bologna 1966
Interventi, with a postface by G. Scalia, Geiger, Bologna 1968
Quantità e qualità, with a preface by di G. Bàrberi Squarotti, Geiger, Bologna 1968
1962/1969, L'Immagine, Bologna 1970
Registro 1971, Cappelli, Bologna 1971
Battage per Valeria, Cappelli, Bologna 1973
Macchina naturale, with an essay by P. Bonfiglioli, Feltrinelli, Milano 1975
A discarico, Geiger, Bologna 1976
Dopo la critica, Società di poesia, Milano 1984
Interferenze, Garzanti, Milano 1988
Ricercari a discanto, Garzanti, Milano 1992
Per via di sguardo, Marsilio, Venezia 1996
Il gran parlare, Marsilio, Venezia 1998
Remedia, Book Editore, Castel Maggiore 1998.
Translation
Aesop, Le favole del lupo, del leone, dell’asino e della volpe, Cappelli, Bologna 1952
Anna Seghers, Visto di transito, Edizioni di cultura sociale, Roma 1953; Transito, Edizioni e/o, Roma 1985
Il libro delle odi. Versioni da Orazio, with an appendix by A. Ghiselli, Cappelli, Bologna 1954
Il libro delle odi. Versioni da Orazio, edizione aumentata, Cappelli, Bologna 1962
Dalle Georgiche di Virgilio, Cappelli, Bologna 1963
Dal libro di Catullo, L'Immagine, Bologna 1966
Catullo, Virgilio, Orazio. Traduzioni, Cappelli, Bologna 1971
Catullus, Le poesie, full version, with a preface by L. Canali, Garzanti, Milano 1975, 1988
Virgil, Georgiche, Garzanti, Milano 1982, 1984
Horace, Epistole, Garzanti, Milano 1985
Horace, Odi. Epodi, Garzanti, Milano 1986
Horace, Satire, Garzanti, Milano 1987
Tibullus, Elegie, Garzanti, Milano 1988
Horace, Le opere, Garzanti, Milano 1988
Ovid, Metamorfosi, Garzanti, Milano 1992
Giovenale, Satire, Garzanti, Milano 1996
Virgil, Eneide, Marsilio, Venezia, 1998.
Figurative criticism and Non-Fiction
Giorgio Morandi. I disegni, Cappelli, Bologna 1949
Marino Marini. Disegni, Cappelli, Bologna 1951
Marino Marini. Litografie e disegni, Cappelli, Bologna 1951
Horace, Le satire, introductory essay, Garzanti, Milano 1976, 1979
Virgil, Georgiche, saggio introduttivo, Garzanti, Milano 1982, 1984
Catullus, Le poesie, introductory essay, Garzanti, Milano 1983
La metrica, Garzanti, Milano 1984
Horace, Epistole, introductory essay, Garzanti, Milano 1985
Tibullus, Elegie, introductory essay, Garzanti, Milano 1988
Horace, Le opere, introductory essay, Garzanti, Milano 1988.
In the field of figurative criticism, he authored over two hundred essays and writings in newspapers and magazines and presentations in exhibition catalogs.
Regarding non-fiction, he has written several entries for the European Encyclopedia, Garzanti, Milan 1976-84: the most important ones are Metrics, Prosody, Kavafis, Pervigilium Veneris, Prudentius.
He collaborated with Francesco Flora on his Grammatica italiana, Cappelli, Bologna 1956.
He edited an anthology of Alfieri, “Per via dei cavalli”, Cappelli, Bologna 1964.
He directed several editorial series.
His poems and writings have appeared in various anthologies and in many Italian and foreign magazines. The critical bibliography on his work includes several hundred titles.
PERMALINK TO THE CATALOGUE
COMPLIER'S NAME
Enrica Veterani