A Bologna, in via San Rocco 6 d/e, a new used-bookstore has been inaugurated: it is called Club Dumas, and its name is inspired by the eponymous novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, from which the film The Ninth Gate was adapted (directed by Roman Polański and starring Johnny Depp), which centers on bibliographic search.
The founders, Riccardo Re and Giulio Manfredi
The bookstore was founded by Riccardo Re (30 years old, a graduate in Art History) and Giulio Manfredi (34 years old, a graduate in Philosophy), who chose to set it up in a ACER building: the premises had been vacant for a long time, and after the acquisition of a private book collection, it became possible to open the shop.
A diverse, yet coherent selection of titles
Both passionate about literature and cinema, and aware that Bologna had not seen a project of this kind in a long time, the two friends gathered about 6,000 volumes, which range from the most sophisticated collectible works to high-turnover, mass-market titles, so as to reach the broadest possible audience.
And so, among literature, essays, and books of every kind, Club Dumas welcomes volumes that people intend to part with, purchasing individual books or in bulk (while maintaining a selection of titles with a certain coherence, so as not to devalue the entire collection with titles distant from the editorial line).
“We try to choose carefully, because next to a beautiful book we put one we deem trivial, and the whole selection loses value,” Riccardo explained to the Bologna edition of Repubblica.
The bookstore, a welcoming hub for gathering
The bookstore, which preserves a warm atmosphere with carpets, plants, a crystal chandelier, refurbished shelves and a display window enriched with Meridiani, Elsa Morante’s stories, the poems of Ingeborg Bachmann and other titles, has been open from Tuesday to Saturday, with a midday break.
Even though everything is still a work in progress, the two founders would like to organize book launches and reading clubs, giving more voice, as they told Zero.eu, to initiatives such as Nomadica, a cinema-focused network that today operates mainly in Catania, with which both feel a strong affection.
In the same interview, the two booksellers also spoke about their role models: “Being bibliophiles in our case is something that stems from afar, from exposure to books since childhood. And this naturally means meeting over time many people who have contributed, each in their own way, with expertise and a distinctive approach to this craft…”.
