Mondadori Libri

The Beatles: Get Back, the story of the origins of one of the best- known albums in history

Starting on October 12, a new book will be available in Italy, and all over the world, entitled The Beatles: Get Back, published by Italian publisher Mondadori. 240 pages telling the story behind the recording of the album Let it be, with hundreds of previously unpublished images and transcriptions of almost 120 hours of the band’s studio recording sessions.

The Beatles: Get Back is a special addition to the documentary of the same name, in three parts, directed and produced by Peter Jackson, who also wrote the introduction to the book. The series will air exclusively on Disney+ on November 25, 26 and 27, 2021.

The book takes readers back in time to January 1969, the band’s last year together. Readers of the new volume enjoy the privilege of participating in the Beatles’ first practices, their mistakes, their boredom and excitement, and in the improvisations that led to the creation of the album Let It Be.

The Beatles: Get Back is the definitive book about the band, documenting these historic sessions. It reports their conversations, transcribed by John Harris, accompanied by never- before published photographs taken by two people who had privileged access to their get-togethers: Ethan A. Russell and Linda Eastman, the future wife of Paul McCartney.

In the same way, Peter Jackson’s documentary tells the story of the recording sessions with 55 hours of original video recordings and 120 hours of audio recordings, most of which have never been heard before. A number of frames in high resolution, stills from the same restored film clips, are featured in the book.

On October 15 Universal Music will be releasing new special editions of “Let It Be”, the Beatles album that came out on May 8 1970, in digital form and in five physical formats on CD and vinyl, including a Super Deluxe version with a 105-page book.

The Beatles: Get Back, in bookstores starting on October 12 (Mondadori, 39 euro, 240 pages), may be pre-ordered at the link below:
https://www.librimondadori.it/libri/the-beatles-get-back-the-beatles/

A book for every patient

Throughout 2021, patients at the Policlinico Sant’Orsola in Bologna will receive a book, as part of an initiative by the Fondazione Sant’Orsola

In 2021, everyone hospitalised at the Sant’Orsola will receive the gift of a book. A companion to help them get through difficult days and discover something new. This is the Fondazione Sant’Orsola project for 2021. An idea that stemmed from the voluntary work of the non-profit organisation and was developed together with Coop Alleanza 3.0 consultant Romano Montroni, chair of the scientific committee of the Centro per il Libro e la Lettura.

The initiative was made possible thanks to the generosity of three sponsors – BPER Banca, the Unipol Group and UniSalute – and the kindness of the publishing houses of the Mondadori Group, who agreed to print 24,000 volumes. Three books have been published: Jane Austen, Emma; Jack London, Martin Eden; Cesare Pavese, La casa in collina. Three classics, three books to read and re-read.

The project was also supported by the Centro per il libro e la lettura, an autonomous body of the Italian Ministry for Culture, and will be endorsed by author Gianrico Carofiglio, who has recognised the importance of the initiative, the first of its kind in Italy.

As soon as the health emergency has ended and the wards are re-opened, the volunteers of the Fondazione Sant’Orsola will present the books to the patients. Until then, distribution will be organised with the assistance of the clinic’s nursing staff, who will ask incoming patients to choose one of the three books when they are assigned a bed. The Fondazione Sant’Orsola website will host a virtual community of readers, where views on the three books and other reading material can be shared.

“Books are essential to a person’s development,” explains the president of Fondazione Sant’Orsola, Giacomo Faldella, “but also to their well-being: some patients bring a book with them, and they see it as a life jacket before making a crossing on a stormy sea; or, more simply perhaps, as a friend to keep them company. However, many patients aren’t in the habit of reading, or for some reason were unable to bring a book with them.”

“In Britain, bibliotherapy has long been a recognised activity,” says Romano Montroni. “The National Health Service has a department set up for the specific purpose of using reading to foster well-being. The relationship between a person’s health and art is also deeply rooted in our own culture; in the early Italian hospitals, like Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, the sick and pilgrims were accommodated and treated in rooms that over the centuries had been decorated by the city’s great painters and sculptors, so the patients were literally “immersed” in beauty. In other words, well-being was regarded in a broad sense, not simply in medical-physical terms.”

“The first thing that someone experiencing a period of difficulty or illness should perhaps try and do is look after themselves,” adds Enrico Selva Coddè, CEO of Einaudi and Mondadori Libri Trade. “It sounds easy, but sometimes it’s impossible. So a simple gesture can help, which is to open a book and absorb yourself in the voice speaking from its pages. A voice dedicated to us, as an indissoluble combination of flesh and imagination. Three classics, because they are like old friends we enjoy seeing again, classics that, as Italo Calvino said, are books people usually say they are ‘re-reading’, not that they are ‘reading’.” Whether it is the wit and irony of Jane Austen, the courage and tenacity of Jack London, the realism and melancholy of Cesare Pavese, these books will certainly help their readers feel less alone.”

Exactly one year ago, Fondazione Sant’Orsola brought together around twenty volunteers – former booksellers, retired teachers, people who love reading – to set up the Libri in corsia project. In just a few weeks, the 1,745 books in the wards had been mapped to create an online catalogue patients could use to request a book located in another ward; the volunteers would then fetch it for them. The pandemic meant that, for reasons of safety, books could no longer be swapped in the hospital. But the Fondazione Sant’Orsola volunteers did not give up: they decided that if books could not be borrowed, they could always be offered as a gift.

This led to the idea being launched today, thanks to the generosity of the sponsors and the publishing houses of the Mondadori Group. An idea that the Fondazione Sant’Orsola volunteers have decided to take a step further with a new project Provo a dirlo con un libro. The Sant’Orsola website today has a catalogue of more than 250 books reviewed by the volunteers. Patients can ask for one of the books, or for one of the titles that have not yet been reviewed, and the volunteers will get it to them within 24 hours. Meanwhile, everyone can post comments and reviews on the catalogue, to build up the online community of readers.
22 June 2021

The first high-interest collection from Mondadori Libri per Ragazzi

Everyone should read. Everyone can read.

Mondadori Libri per Ragazzi presents its first collection of high-interest books to help its readers develop their skills. A graphics project intended not only for readers with learning difficulties, but for everyone who finds reading challenging. A fun way to help children discover the pleasure of reading and make reading child’s play!

  • What exactly is a high-interest book? The features of the high-interest graphics project are:
    use of the leggimi font developed in 2006 by Sinnos in collaboration with neuropsychiatrists, speech therapists and teachers; designed to be easier to read and intended specifically for people with reading difficulties;
  • the line spacing and spaces between letters are wider than usual;
  • the text is always aligned on the left and there are no word divisions;
  • spacing to indicate paragraph divisions or narrative sequences, in order to facilitate understanding and give readers achievable objectives.

20 May 2021
The first four books in the collection

Il diritto di sognare by Sarah Pellizzari Rabolini:
Bea feels she is always second-best, but when she hears the story of Claudette Colvin who, before Rosa Parks, refused to give up her seat to a white woman but has been largely forgotten, she learns to come to terms with grading. Sarah Pellizzari Rabolini is an Italian teacher and journalist. She has written novels, poetry and short stories and received a number of awards.

Un salto tra le stelle by Daria Bertoni:
Stella is looking forward to starting her artistic gymnastics training again and there’s a wonderful piece of news: she will be a member of the Gazzelle competition team! Daria Bertoni has worked as bookseller at the Libreria dei Ragazzi in Milan for many years. With Mondadori she has published Stelle in equilibrio and Libera. Un’amica tra le onde.

Scuola di mostri by Sabrina Guidoreni:
It’s the first day at school and Giò is worried. His father says starting something new is always a great adventure, but he’s not so sure. Sabrina Guidoreni was born and lives in Bologna. She studied at Bottega Finzioni, and is a nursery-school teacher and indefatigable reader.

Il bambino fiocco di neve by Viviana Mazza:
The moving true story of Wang Fuman, the little boy who was determined to go to school at any cost. Viviana Mazza is a journalist on the foreign desk of “Corriere della Sera”. She was one of the first people in Italy to tell young people about Malala Yousafzai in her book La storia di Malala.

Mondadori Group: new organisation for Trade Books

Growth and development are the priorities for the publishing houses:
changes aimed at facing the new publishing scenario

The Mondadori Group has redesigned its Trade Books Area under the leadership of the chief executive of Mondadori Libri S.p.A. Enrico Selva Coddè, with the aim of pursuing growth and development opportunities for its publishing houses.

“We have defined a new organisational model that will enable us to respond more effectively to the central challenges in trade publishing, a sector in increasingly rapid evolution, also at the international level,” declared Enrico Selva Coddè. “A necessary change to look to the future of the country’s leading cultural industry with the innovative approach that has always characterised our publishing houses,” Selva Coddè concluded.

Consequently, two new crossover departments have been created that will report directly to Enrico Selva Coddè.

The first, the department of General Operations, will be headed up by Filippo Guglielmone, with the aim of orienting the business at the highest possible level of cost efficiency and service possible; operations and sales will be integrated in a single process to drive value generation and make it possible to optimise time-to-market, increase customer satisfaction and facilitate the growth of the publishing houses.

The second, the department for Strategic Marketing, Rights and Acquisitions, to be led by Lorenzo Garavaldi, aims to reinforce the company’s role in the publishing market through analysis and the definition of market strategy, the coordination of acquisition activities and the identification of development priorities.

Reporting to Enrico Selva Coddè, the publishing houses will also absorb product marketing activities giving them all control over communication, in line with a scenario in which the enhancement of authors’ work is part of a single publishing effort that goes from the title to readers’ comments.

The publishing houses are led by Francesco Anzelmo, General Manager of Mondadori; Ernesto Franco, General Manager and Editorial Director of Einaudi; Massimo Turchetta, General Manager of Rizzoli Trade and Publishing & Rights Development; Stefano Peccatori, General Manager of Sperling & Kupfer, Piemme and Mondadori Electa, and Lorenzo Garavaldi, General Manager of BU Ragazzi.

Bruce Springsteen doubles down for his fans

Published and released simultaneously around the world the autobiography “Born to Run” and the album “Chapter and Verse”, with 5 unheard tracks

To celebrate this double bonanza, 5 events around Italy and a Mondadori Store competition to win a guitar signed by Bruce Springsteen

Mondadori Libri is proud to announce the publication – simultaneously around the world – of the autobiography by Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run, on 27 September 2016. It will be preceded by the album Chapter and Verse, released by Columbia Records/Sony Music, on 23 September.

Mondadori Store is celebrating this double bonanza with an unmissable competition, organised in collaboration with Sony Music Italy and Mondadori Libri, with as the prize Fender Telecaster American Standard guitar, tested and signed by Bruce Springsteen. For full details please go to eventi.mondadoristore.it.

Finally, to celebrate along with all Bruce Springsteen fans the arrival of the autobiography, Born to Run, and the album, Chapter and Verse, 5 events are planned in Milan, Rome, Bologna, Padua e Turin, with exceptional guest appearances, shows and lots of music. For full details please go to librimondadori.it.

The autobiography Born to Run

 

In 2009, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Super Bowl: the experience was so exciting that Bruce decided to put it down on paper. This was how the extraordinary autobiography started, a book that Bruce has spent the past seven years preparing and in which we rediscover the sincerity, the irony and originality that we have come to know through his songs.

He tells us about his childhood in Freehold, New Jersey, a place full of poetry but also of potential risks, destined to feed his imagination, until the moment that Bruce calls the “Big Bang”: Elvis Presley’s debut on the “Ed Sullivan Show”. He describes his unbridled desire to become a musician, his beginnings as the king of the bar bands in Asbury Park and the birth of the E Street Band. With disarming candour, for the first time Bruce Springsteen talks about the inner torments that inspired his greatest songs, beginning from Born to Run, a track that turns out to be even more complex than we imagined.

It is an enlightening read for anyone who loves Bruce Springsteen, but it is much more that the memoir of a legendary rock star: it is a book for practical spirits and incurable dreamers, for parents and children, couples in love and lonely hearts, for artists, hippies and anyone who wants to be baptized in the sacred river of rock. It is rare that an artist tells their story in such an intensely detailed way. As in many of his songs (Thunder Road, Badlands, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River, Born in the USA, The Rising and The Ghost of Tom Joad, to name just a few), the autobiography of Bruce Springsteen outlines the inspiration of a unique artist and the wisdom of a man who has thought deeply about his own experience.

 

 

The album Chapter and Verse

Chapter and Verse, is the album that accompanies the autobiography, released on 23 September by Columbia Records/Sony Music four-days ahead of the publication of Born to Run. The collection, which spans the artist’s entire career, includes six songs that have never been heard before. It is available on CD, double LP, digital download and streaming. The CD and double LP contain the lyrics of the songs and some rare photos.

The songs on in Chapter and Verse, 18 in total, reflect the themes and sections of the book Born to Run. The collection begins with two tracks by the Castiles, with the teenaged Springsteen on vocals and guitar, and closes with the title track from 2012’s “Wrecking Ball”. The track list of the album traces Bruce’s musical history, from its beginnings and tell a story that runs in parallel with the narrative of the book.

The recordings by the Steel Mill and the Bruce Springsteen Band feature musicians who would later enter the ranks of the E Street Band. The solo demos “Henry Boy” and “Growin’ Up” were made in 1972, shortly before Springsteen began recording his debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.

 

The Mondadori Store competition

Mondadori Store, Italy’s most extensive chain of bookstores, in collaboration with Mondadori Libri and Sony Music Italy, has organised a competition for which the prize is a Fender Telecaster American Standard tested and signed by Bruce Springsteen himself. Fans can take part in the competition by pre-ordering or buying the book along with the CD or LP) exclusively at participating Mondadori Stores or on the web site mondadoristore.it,

All you have to do then is to got to the web site eventi.mondadoristore.it before 20 October 2016 and follow the instructions to participate in the draw. The prize will be presented to the fortunate winner along with a certificate of authenticity.

The guitar, on display from today at the Mondadori Megastore in Piazza Duomo, will also travel to the Mondadori Stores in Bologna, Padua and Turin as part of three events dedicated to Bruce Springsteen, and finally it will remain on show at the Mondadori Megastore in Piazza Duomo in Milan until the end of the competition.

For full details please go to eventi.mondadoristore.it.

 

The events

A total of 5 events have been organised to celebrate the publication of the autobiography Born to Run and the release of the album Chapter and Verse, starting with Eataly and two exceptional events. The first, in Milan, on Thursday 29 September at Eataly Smeraldo from 8 pm and the second in Rome, on Sunday 2 October at Eataly Ostiense from 6 pm. Two unique occasions, with special guests. At the heart of th event will be a reading from the autobiography Born to Run by the great Giuseppe Battiston. Taking part in Milan will be the journalist Marina Petrillo and I Rome Gino Castaldo.

But that’s not all, because from 3 to 6 October the Fender Telecaster American Standard signed by Bruce Springsteen will tour the Mondadori Stores in Bologna, Padua and Turin, where it will be on display for a whole day. In each city a special event dedicated to the autobiography Born to Run and the album Chapter and Verse, has been organised and the protagonists of these three events will be the comic actor Antonio Ornano, authors, artists and special fans. For full details. please go to librimondadori.it.

Mondadori Libri S.p.A. Board of Directors: appointments

Ernesto Mauri Chairman; Enrico Selva Coddè Managing Director of the trade area; Antonio Porro Managing Director of the educational area

Gian Arturo Ferrari appointed Deputy Chairman of Mondadori Libri S.p.A.; Oddone Pozzi, Group’s Head of Finance, Procurement and IT, elected as director of the Board

Segrate, 21 January 2015 – The Board of Directors of Mondadori Libri S.p.A., held on today’s date, resolved upon the following appointments: Ernesto Mauri Chairman; Enrico Selva Coddè, Gian Arturo Ferrari, Antonio Porro and Oddone Pozzi Directors.

Specifically – reporting to the Group’s CEO Ernesto Mauri – Enrico Selva Coddè is appointed Managing Director of Mondadori Libri S.p.A. for the Trade area and Antonio Porro is confirmed Managing Director of the Educational area.

Gian Arturo Ferrari, Deputy Chairman of Mondadori Libri S.p.A., will work in co-operation with Enrico Selva, Managing Director of the Trade area, for the implementation and publication of the publishing programmes.

“This configuration enables a more functional structure aiming at potentially further developing a strategically key business for us as we hold a leadership position with a 26% market share in the Trade area and a 13% market share in the Educational area”, underlined Ernesto Mauri, CEO of Mondadori Group.

“The scenario of the publishing market is still declining and this means that we need to increasingly keep our focus on innovation and management efficiency, while streamlining processes with a view to increasing profitability in a strategically key sector for our company”, Mauri continued. “The new organization, which I am proud of also for the excellence of its professional competencies, will enable the management to use all leverages to achieve the projected results”.

Born in Milan in 1961 and with two degrees (engineering and philosophy), Enrico Selva Coddè began his career at Olivetti in 1987, where he worked in planning and logistics until 1991, the year he first joined Mondadori.

Until 1999 he worked at Mondadori as Head of Human Resources in the Direct Marketing, Advertising and Magazines areas. From 1999 to 2002 he was Head of Operations at Rizzoli Newspapers.

In 2002 he returned to Mondadori Group as General Manager of Giulio Einaudi editore; later he was appointed Managing Director holding the office from 2003 to 2008.

He was then appointed Head of Human Resources, Organization and IT of the Mondadori Group and since July 2014 he is Vice President of FIEG and President of FIEG category of large-scale magazine publishers.

Born in Milan in 1965, Antonio Porro has a degree in economics and business administration from the Catholic University of Milan. He began his career with Mondadori in the early 1990s as Head of project development. He then joined Telecom Italia covering positions with growing responsibility for over ten years, up from the Business Division to the International Division.

In January 2009 he returned to Mondadori as Head of the Group’s Mergers & Acquisitions. In June 2011 he was appointed General Manager of the Educational area and subsequently he was appointed Chairman and Managing Director of Mondadori Education S.p.A. and Mondadori Electa S.p.A., offices that are confirmed to him by today’s Board resolution.

§

It should be noted that the stakes owned in the publishing houses operating in the Trade, Arts and Educational areas – Edizioni Piemme S.p.A. (100%), Giulio Einaudi editore S.p.A. (100%), Mondadori Education S.p.A. (100%), Mondadori Electa S.p.A. (100%), Sperling & Kupfer Editori S.p.A. (100%), Harlequin Mondadori S.p.A. (50%) – and in the company operating in the distribution area – Mach 2 Libri S.p.A. (34.91%) – were contributed to Mondadori Libri S.p.A., which started operations on 1 January 2015.

At 31 December 2013 the Books area of the Mondadori Group posted revenues for a total of euro 334.3 million with EBITDA at euro 46.2 million.

Board approves incorporation of Mondadori Libri S.p.A.

The new company, which will be wholly-owned by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. will bring together all of the activities of the books area from 1 January 2015

The Board of Directors of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A., which met today under the chairmanship of Marina Berlusconi, has approved the operation presented by the chief executive Ernesto Mauri for the incorporation of a new wholly-owned company to be called Mondadori Libri S.p.A.

Specifically, the new company will bring together all of the business activities of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. concerning:

  • the assets, liabilities and contractual relations relative to the publishing and distribution activities currently undertaken by the books area;
  • the stakes of book publishing companies in the trade, art and educational sectors – Edizioni Piemme S.p.A. (100%), Giulio Einaudi editore S.p.A. (100%), Mondadori Education S.p.A. (100%), Mondadori Electa S.p.A. (100%), Sperling & Kupfer Editori S.p.A. (100%), Harlequin Mondadori S.p.A. (50%) – as well as the company operating in the distribution sector Mach 2 Libri S.p.A. (34.91%).

The operation will not involve any changes to the overall profile of the underlying businesses and operating characteristics of the Group.

The contribution will also facilitate the creation of a more functional corporate structure for the potential realisation, with a view to development, of partnership and merger opportunities aimed at exploiting economies of scale and scope; the operation also enables the use of all the operating, economic and financial levers by the management of the Area.

The contribution will carried out in line with current accounting levels, and with no impact on the Group’s consolidated figures, on the basis of a net book value of €99.4 million.

The contribution will be formalised before the end of 2014, and will be effective from 1 January 2015.

As of 30 September 2014, the Books Area recorded revenues of €238.9 million, EBITDA of €35.8 million and operating profit (EBIT) of €33.7 million.

Related parties
With regard to the “Regulations concerning operations with related parties” adopted by CONSOB with resolution n.17221 of 12 March 2010 and subsequent modifications, it should be noted that the operation is not subject to the provisions of such Regulations, pursuant to Art. 14, para. 2, and the relative procedures adopted by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A.. Specifically, the operation involves wholly-owned companies for which there are no interest of related parties that can be defined as relevant in line with the criteria defined by the procedures.