Pens, Paper and Ink in Rome, Florence and Venice

[jimg]

I will be travelling in Italy next month with extended stop overs in the above cities. I am aware of Novelli's in Rome and will make a bee line there.

 

Is anyone able to recommend any other places of interest in these cities?

 

Many thanks

[Ondina]

Amalfi paper is a must. A visit to the town of Amalfi and the museum http://www.museodellacarta.it/ would be a dream. And a visit in Florence to http://www.pineider.com/ with a well endowed wallet, you will find anything you ever dreamed of as a fpen user there, and probably more. Wonderful trip, have lots of fun, and please tell us when you're back!

[dennis_f]

I used to live in Rome, and there was a great pen/paper shop not too far from the Pantheon.

 

Here:

 

My link

 

The Pantheon should be at the bottom of the screen. If you take a look at the street that exits the Piazza diagonally from the eastern corner (the street is un-named on this map, but branches off of Via dei Pastini), you should see the label "Stilo Fetti, Srl"...

 

I haven't visited the city since 2005 so I can't vouch for the current collection... but when I did live there, I couldn't resist walking by the store as often as possible, and visiting at least once a month. They used to carry a wide assortment of pens and they always had the most gorgeous limited editions in the window.

 

If you're in the area anyway, you might want to check it out...

 

D

(not affiliated...).

[simp]

Amalfi paper is a must. A visit to the town of Amalfi and the museum http://www.museodellacarta.it/ would be a dream. And a visit in Florence to http://www.pineider.com/ with a well endowed wallet, you will find anything you ever dreamed of as a fpen user there, and probably more. Wonderful trip, have lots of fun, and please tell us when you're back!

Pineider is one of the best shop in florence, just in front of "Palazzo Vecchio", but more than fountain pens you can find there a lot of wonderful (and expensive) stationery. If you look for fountain pen apart the "Casa della Stilografica" of my other post, there is, in front of Orsammichele, a small shop run from Nannelli that has vintage lighter and fountain pen.

 

Or if you came by the end of March the 28 there will be a pen show at the Hotel Baglioni, in front on the Railway Station of Santa Maria Novella.

 

Regards

Simone

Edited February 16, 2010 by simp

[simp]

In Florence a must is "Casa della stilografica" (House of fountain pen). It's between the Duomo and Piazza San Marco and surely you will pass in front of it. You can find them on line on www.stilografica.it, but a visit is due for a shop selling fountain pens for more than 65 year. Be aware, it's a small shop, not a big stationery with lot of expensive accessories, you'll find them just fountain pen (and a lot of them) and some passionate people (the shop is owned by the same family from it's start).

 

Regards

Simone

 

PS. They are friends, but not beeing so will be impossible if you live in Florence and you have a passion for fountain pens.

[jimg]

Thank you all very very much for the great information. i appreciate it.

Jim

[lterry]

Novelli is my favorite store in Rome (glad to hear you're aware of it) and I found Casa Della Stilografica in Florence was also a great experience.

Edited February 19, 2010 by lterry

[Darius]

I'm currently in Rome and going to Florence tomorrow. Before I came here I checked Glen's Pen website (Link), which I found very useful. Check out the "Great Stores" and "Stores Directory" sections of the website. From the listed stores in Rome, I visited Novelli, Stilograph Corsani, Stilo Fetti and Burchi & De Sanctis. All great stores. The best one is Novelli. Stillo Fetti is also a nice store with loads of pens of different brands. There's also a pen shop in Galleria Alberto Sordi on Via del Corso called C'Art, that has a small selection of pens, dip pens and some stationery. There's a nice shop called Cartoleria on Via della Maddalena (near the Pantheon) that sells lots of stationery, papers, leather journals and lots of dip pens.

 

I'm gonna visit the stores listed in Florence when I get there. I'm quite excited about the Visconti showroom.

[Darius]

So after visiting Florence and Venice, I thought I would update.

 

In Florence, besides the stores listed on Glen's Pen website, there are a lot of place that sell pens, paper and leather journals. If you walk the streets around Piazza della Signoria, Piazza della Repubblica, the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio, you will definitely come across many stores. The Visconti showroom on Via della Vigna Nuova is worth visiting.

 

In Venice, I didn't come across any pen stores. But the city is full of stores that sell paper, journals, dip pens, wax seals and the like. I used to walk the streets between Sant'Angelo water bus stop and San Marco, and find shop after shop that sells those things.

 

Another thing, the gift shops of museums and galleries usually have lots of notebooks that have some sort of displayed article in the museum on the cover. I haven't tried the paper, but it seems to be of good quality.

[shrinknib]

Enjoy your trip!

I haven't been since 2008 and miss Italy terribly.

[LetiziaJac]

A couple of extra suggestions for Florence... if you are a vintage-pen fancier. Ther is a very small shop called NANNELLI in Florence, located in a side street of Via dei Calzaioli ( I do not remember the name of the street, but you can ask when you are there)owned by the descendant of the Nannelli family who run a small pen factory in the pre-WWII years. He is a nice guy, specialized in pens and vintage lighters. He has a stock of vintage pens where you can sometimes find very nice pieces. Pay attention, though! He is a repairman so, look carefully at the pens and te nibs and, don't forget to ask for discounts, the guy is nice and ready to deal.

Then, if you want to have some fun, do not forget about the flea market in Piazza de Ciompi, it is open everyday from dawn to dusk and, if you are lucky enough, you can find vintage stuff there, too.

Finally if you are in Florence on the third week-end of the month, there is a very pleasant antique market around Fortezza da Basso, Even if you do not find a single pen, the place and the location are worth a visit.

 

Have a nice trip!!

[jimg]

Thanks to you all again for this great information.

Very much appreciated.

 

Jim

[ehoh]

This is very useful information! I'm also planning a trip to the same three cities this spring and have been looking for information on paper and pen stores. Now it looks like I will be carrying a long list to each city--I can't wait! Thanks especially for the names of streets where I can find clusters of such stores.

[Quadratus]

I realise that I am replying to this topic several years after the last post, but in the interest of promoting a really nice shop I discovered on my trip to Rome in August 2017, I would also highly recommend "Stilo e Stile", Via Gallia 101/a, close to the Basilica of Saint John Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano). The shops usually mentioned on the FPN are Novelli, Stilofeti and Stilograf Corsani are all good, but "Stilo e Stile" is certainly worth vitising.

 

The shop's name 'Stilo e Stile' is a pun in Italian on the short version of the word for pen "stilografe" (hence "Stilo") and the word for "style" (ie "stile")...

 

The shop is run by a mother and son team, Oriola and Mario, who are genuine pen and ink enthusiasts. They stock a wide range of Italian, German, Japanese and other pens, and are immensely knowledgeable about pens.

 

A particular strength of Stilo e Stile is their range of inks, including a huge stock of Noodlers (very hard to find in Europe), Japanese inks like the Sailor Jentle range and Iroshizuku.

 

A further feature of their stock are notebooks, including fine Japanese paper products.

 

Customers are welcome to test pens and are generally made to feel most welcome.

 

A highly recommended shop!

[Quadratus]

Re Stilo e Stile, I also add the relevant contact details:

 

"Stilo e Stile", Via Gallia 101/a, 00183 Rome, tel +39 06 7720 5999, close to the Basilica of Saint John Lateran (San Giovanni in Laterano). Website: Stiloestile.it