Feltrinelli marks milestone with 'Gattopardesco Day' events in Rome bookshops.

The iconic Italian publishing house Feltrinelli on Monday celebrates 70 years by hosting a series of literary events including public talks and readings at its bookshops in Rome.

The programme of events is devoted to Il Gattopardo (The Leopard), the famous novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, published by the fledgling Feltrinelli in 1958 after being rejected by other leading publishing houses.

The book, which chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the unification of Italy, became the top-selling novel in Italian history and today is considered one of the most important novels in modern Italian literature.

In addition to serving as the basis for Luchino Visconti's 1963 film starring Burt Lancaster, the story has been adapted for a new Netflix TV series called The Leopard, due for release on 5 March.

"In June 1955, in a café in Milan, Giangiacomo Feltrinelli and his editorial staff celebrated the publication of the first titles of the newborn publishing house (An Autobiography by Jawaharlal Nehru and The Scourge of the Swastika by Edward Russell), which would soon be joined by a successful series of paperbacks, the Universale Economica",  the Corriere della Sera writes.

Feltrinelli, which now operates 122 bookshops in addition to being a publishing house, will mark its 70th anniversary by republishing 25 of the most famous books from the Universale Economica series.

The first 12 titles in the colourful new UE70 limited edition will be released on Tuesday, while the other 13 will be presented during the Turin Book Fair in May.

"Feltrinelli was born as a bold, impetuous, innovative project, bearer of values that are still our identity today" - president Carlo Feltrinelli told Corriere della Sera - "We have never stopped looking for new voices and ideas that we believe are necessary."

Photo credit: Stefano Chiacchiarini '74 / Shutterstock.com.