In the NY Times: Roberto Calasso, Renaissance Man of Letters, Dies at 80
A Florentine by birth, he was a polymath as an author and publisher (Kafka, Verdic philosophy, Greek mythology) who reached a wide international readership.
In “The Art of the Publisher,” his reflections on his decades in publishing, Mr. Calasso was diffident about the commercial side of publishing, noting that “publishing has often shown itself to be a sure and rapid way of squandering substantial amounts of money.”
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“For me he was the greatest European publisher of his time and one of our greatest writers — an exceptionally rare combination,” Mr. Osborne said. “Moreover, he was a true Florentine deep down, as I always thought, embodying the urbane tolerance and refinement of that city.”