Abstract

The dictionaries published by Garzanti under the direction of Livio Garzanti between 1952 and 1995 are part of an ambitious project aimed at disseminating knowledge. This includes a series of works belonging to the section Grandi Opere, which were inspired by Anglo-Saxon publishing models. The first edition of the major French-Italian bilingual dictionary (1966) represents a new editorial product, which leaves behind the past era of repertoires such as the Dizionario di francese by Carlo Boselli, already included in the Treves catalogue and republished by Aldo Garzanti. The 1966 edition’s numerous reprints testify to its success, which will be echoed by the brand even in the transition to other publishing houses. This contribution investigates the peculiar relationship between norm and usage, that is that balance between prescription in production and description in reception constantly sought in the teaching of foreign languages. In this sense, the French-Italian dictionaries which were published by Garzanti when French moved from playing a predominant to a minor role after English are concerned with the publishing house’s attention to linguistic varieties nourished by the force of usage within increasingly wider social and geographical contexts.