The «desperate uniform»: the Italian years of Giuseppe Sergio Martini, librarian and bibliographer. With a bibliography of his writings till 1958

Abstract

The article describes Giuseppe Sergio Martini's professional training and brief Italian career. After serving his country in the Second World War and being held prisoner in Germany, he worked as a librarian at the National Central Library of Florence (BNCF) and at the Bibliographic Superintendence of Tuscany from 1949 to 1957.
Thanks to unpublished sources, the author gives an account of Martini's work and intellectual journey from linguistics to librarianship and bibliographical studies, until he moved to the UN Library of New York. During his brief professional career in Italy, he stood out of the crowd for his ability, intelligence and passion, soon achieving a leading role in the professional debate. His writings were published by some of the major Italian publishers (such as Sansoni and Olschki): an additional bibliography of his writings until 1958 completes the article.