Zanichelli was founded by Nicola Zanichelli, a book seller from Modena, in 1859. Between the Nineteenth and the Twentieth Century, Zanichelli published works by Italian poets Giosuè Carducci and Giovanni Pascoli, as well as by other important intellectual figures active in Bologna at the time.
Since the beginning of its activities, the publisher has played an important role in the popularisation of science. For instance, in 1864 it published the Italian translation of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of species, and in 1921 Albert Einstein's Relativity: the Special and General Theory. It also published works by several Nobel Prize laureates.
In 1860, Zanichelli also began publishing works in legal disciplines.
Currently, Zanichelli is one of the major publishers of school textbooks in Italy, and its catalogue includes books available both in print and in digital form.
Additionally, its Italian dictionary, the Zingarelli, first published in 1917 and now containing 145,000 lemmas, and its English-Italian dictionary, the Ragazzini, are among the most popular ones in Italy.
Its catalogue also includes specialised literature and a series of books in the domain of medicine.
During the celebrations of its 150th anniversary, Zanichelli published an online catalogue with books published between 1859 and the present.
Zanichelli has a digital historical catalogue which is accessible via its website. It also has a physical historical library which can be accessed upon request.
