img. EUreka3D project / Museo della Carta

The Museo della Carta in Pescia holds a rich heritage of paper goods consisting of watermarked paper moulds, watermark waxes, punches, watermarked metal sheets, about 7,000 pieces, witnessing the history of paper manufacturing in Tuscany.

One of the items digitized and shared to Europeana in the context of EUreka3D project is a paper mould produced in 1923. It features the watermark with a stylized anchor, flanked at the bottom by the letters “E” and “S”. These are the initials of Ettore Serra (1890-1980), poet, critic, antiquarian, multifaceted and cosmopolitan intellectual, and most of all founder of the publishing house Stamperia Apuana, which published the second and expanded edition of Giuseppe Ungaretti’s collection of poems Il Porto Sepolto printed on a high quality paper specially manufactured by the Magnani Paper Mill in Pescia, using the paper mould currently preserved at the Museo della Carta, and digitized in 3D for EUreka3D project.

The 3D digitization of this paper mould supported in the Museum additional research about the story of the object itself and of this publication of Il Porto Sepolto. As a direct outcome of this research, an exhibition and catalogue was derived, showcasing the original model, the various documents and stories that surrounded it and the book published by Ettore Serra, and of course the 3D model itself digited in the EUreka3D project. The exhibition Ungaretti, Il Porto Sepolto 1923. Storia di un’edizione opens on 8th February until 2 June 2025 and is part of a series of exhibitions dedicated to artworks, events and important figures in the local history of 1900.

Website: https://museodellacarta.org/en