Great Pen Stores -Rome, Italy - Europe
Via di San Marcello, 21/22
00187 Roma, Italy
Tel: ++39.06-679-2852, Fax: ++39.06-679-3123
If calling from USA: Tel: 011.39.06.67.92.852; Fax: 011.39.06.67.93.123
E-Mail Marco Parascenzo | Novelli Web Site
A leading pen store in Rome
There is so much to see in Rome. And, for a pen enthusiast one of the key things to do is take a visit to Novelli Pen.
The Store
Novelli is a great pen store that carries both regular and limited edition pens from all the major brands. Established for over 50 years the store has a solid reputation. I have been visiting the store since 1997 and I can speak highly of the quality of sales and after sales service. Others have also provided solid reviews on their Novelli experience. In addition to sales at his store, Novelli has a considerable international business through the store's web site.
Marco and the staff speak English, so if you do not speak Italian, it is an easy to ask to see just about any pen you are considering. While the web site is great, if you can visit the store, you will have a full buying experience. The show cases along the wall display the major lines of pens. There are floor counters. Don't see what you were considering? Just ask. There are trays of pens that can be brought from a back room to review. Not only a good selection of pens, but also a selection of nib widths. This has always been important to me. This is not a store that carries fine and medium nibs ony.
The Pen Selection Experience
My typical Novelli experience? I look at the pens in each of the showcases, Marco accompanies me with a try. As I show interest in a pen, it is placed in the tray. Then we head over to the counter for a fuller discussion on each of the pens. If the pen on display did not have the nib I wanted, a look in the backroom typically brings a pen fitted with the nib I wanted. Then out comes a bottle of ink, the pens are dipped and I try each to see how it fits in my hand, and the nib performance. Sometimes the pen I thought I would select was not right in my hand. Other times a pen I was only milded interested in turns our to be an incredible pen once it is my hand. The process of elimination is painful. Typically I leave with more than one pen, and even getting it down to that is a painful process. We usually need a lunch with wine to recover! My Novelli pens are included in my Pens of Note.
How did I find Novelli? Well it all started 1997, Marco's father father, Augusto Parascenzo, has seen my website, he wrote asking my wife Karen and I to visit his store and we would have lunch. A gracious offer. On our trip to Rome that year we met with Augusto. I think I remember Marco being in the store working in the upstairs office. Augusto showed the extensive selection of pens. In the end I selected the Waterman Etoile, a limited edition pen in sterling silver that I still cherish to this day. We also met his wife, Giusy. She was trained by pen companies on the repair of pens. At the store she assisted with adjustments to pens.
When Augusto passed away, Marco and his sister Sabrina continued to operated Novelli Pen & Pipe. I have visited the store almost annually. Karen and I have a great visit with Marco, Sabrina and staff member Mikki and Giusy on the days she is in the store.
Location
When travelling on holidays, one of the challenge is to find a particular pen store. Novelli is centrally located. Located not far the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II, and between the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. The store is located on a small street via di San Marcello, that runs parallel to Via del Corso.
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For fun, on a previous trip to Rome, I shot a video of my walk from via delle Muratte, through the Galleria Sciarra, on the way to the store. Video on tumblr.
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From Via del Corso, which runs up from the Monument Vittorio Emanuelle II, the store is located about three blocks up. Turn right on the small street (very small), Via Dell 'Umilta; first block in turn right again you are on via di San Marcello.
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From the Trevi Fountain, on your way to walk towards the Pantheon or Piazza Novana: leave the Trevi fountain on via delle Muratte, a pedestrian only street. You will see the brown sign to point the way to the Piazza Navona or Pantheon. At the second left, turn on the Via di Santa Maria. Pass through the beautiful Galleria Sciarra, and then arrive at via San Marcello.
Below is a live link to Google Map that will allow you to expand and explore the area. Click on the "Peg Guy" and you can see actual video of the street and can walk it from your computer!
Marco and Sabrina
When we stayed in Rome on our 2017 visit we picked an apartment that was very close to Corsani. I would just pop down them if I needed some ink, a convertor and of course to visit.
This is one of my "great pen stores" because of the selection pens and ink, the service and also their history. Corsani has been selling pens in Rome since 1924.
I have met Stefano a few times and he told me how his grandfather started the store back in 1924 and it has been family run ever since. He has a wealth of knowledge about pens so do get any chance you have to drop by the store and visit.
The store is located on Via Ottaviano, not far from St. Peter's Square. In 2017 we were staying in an apartment on Piazza Cavour. It is an easy walk. If you are near the Castello Sant'Angelo, just heard up towards and any of the main streets such as Via Crescenzio or Via Cola di Rienzo lead towards via Ottaviano. I think it was a 15 - 20 minute walk from the Corso Cavour which is very close to the Castel Sant'Angelo.
While it first began as a book and stationery store, following World War II, Mario De Leo, the son of the founder dedicated the store to pens.
The store carries a good selection of all pen lines as well as limited editions and a good selection of inks..
I am an honoured owner of one of Corsani's Limited Editions. In 2016 I acquired the Visconti Corsani, a pen Stefano commissioned Visconti in2014 to create to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the store. More information on that pen is found under my Pens Of Note. It is a beautiful celluloid pen using the black and grey/white streaks celluloid used in Visconti's Wall Street Series.
This year, Stefano created another pen, the Corsani Octa90nal. This pen also uses the same celluloid at the previous Corsani 90th anniversary pen, but the body has eight sides so the pen has a different feel. Just as beautiful.
You can walk, or take Metro Linea A, Ottaviano-S. Pietro station. The store is open Mondays from 10:00 to 7:30, and Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 to 7:30. Say hi to Stephano.
Stilo Fetti
Via egli Orfani, 82
Roma, Italy
This is probably the oldest pen shop in Italy, having been established in 1893. It has been owned and operated by the Fetti family since then.
On my September 2001 visit to Rome I went to the store. Great place! Located just off the Pantheon on the walk towards the Spanish Steps (take north east street leaving the Pantheon. On my 2010 visit to Rome I wanted to visit the store again, but it was a Monday and the store was closed. I dropped by again in 2012 and had a chance to meet the five generations of the family that run the business!
You walk into the store and there are two large pen cases/counters... along the ways just about every inch has pens. There were two great large ink wells on the counters that I offered to buy! No luck! In the back room is a full selection of Mont Blanc pens as well as a range of brief cases and other desk accessories.
On my visits I have found the staff to only speak Italian.
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