Imagine a time, in the centuries before printing was established, when books where hard to come by.   This was certainly the situation long ago in the remote and mountainous areas of Northern Italy. Printing of books did not arrive to the area until the late 15th century. What a miracle those early books must have seemed!

In the 16th century, itinerant booksellers began to travel from town to town, carrying baskets full of books. They reached the small hamlets throughout northern Italy, even venturing all the way to Germany, setting up temporary stalls to sell books.

These traveling booksellers came from the Lunigiana region of northern Tuscany, particularly from the towns of Pontremoli and Montereggio.  The selling of books became a family business, a tradition passed down from generation to generation.  Over time the work of the booksellers became more established. Today, many bookstores in northern and central Italy can trace their roots back to Pontremoli’s traveling booksellers.

I didn’t know much about this history before I visited Pontremoli last fall.  I was immediately struck by the fact that books were everywhere.  Books filled nooks along the staircase in the Airbnb apartment where I stayed.  Books sat outside shops in small baskets, payment on the honor system.  Books lined shelves in cafes and restaurants.  There was also a large shop selling new and used books in Piazza della Repubblica, right in the heart of the historic center.  Pontremoli seemed to be a city of books.

Just off Piazza della Repubblica was a courtyard filled with benches sculpted in the form of open books.  Each had a date, a title, an author’s name, and a snippet of text.  A similar book bench was found in the courtyard of the Piagnaro Castle high above town.  Curious!

A bit of investigation revealed that the book benches were related to an annual literary prize, The Premio Bancarella, awarded each summer in the city of Pontremoli. 

The prize has its roots in the city’s history of booksellers.  In fact, the Premio Bancarella is the only literary prize awarded by a committee made up exclusively of booksellers.  Unlike publishers and literary scholars, the booksellers know which books are popular with their customers, which ones are most in demand.  The prize is a connection from author to bookseller to reader.  And the term Bancarella, meaning stall, reflects those early booksellers who set up stalls in the smallest of towns.

Each year since 1952 a panel of booksellers has met to award the prize.  The first year the prize was awarded in nearby Montereggio. That year the winner was Hemingway for The Old Man and the Sea.  Since then the prize has been awarded each year in Pontremoli. The list of winners include Italian literary figures and authors from around the globe. 

In 2006 a category for books related to food was added, The Premio Bancarella della Cucina.  That may explain the large number of cookbooks found in the bookshop near where the prizes are awarded.

There are many things to love about Pontremoli, but the fact that the town is full of books is an added bonus.