In a message announcing his retirement to the readers of art magazine FMR, the Italian publisher Franco Maria Ricci wrote: “To whoever asks me why, I shall answer in the same way as Voltaire: ‘Laissez-moi cultiver mon jardin.’ ”

The full import of those words has only now become apparent six years later with the news that the man who published some of the world’s most fantastical works ‑ and luxurious volumes ‑ has created its biggest maze. His labyrinth of bamboo hedges at Fontanellato near Parma reportedly covers some seven hectares (17.5 acres), which would make it more than five times larger than the Pineapple Garden Maze on Hawaii, the largest permanent hedge maze in the Guinness Book of Records. [THE GUARDIAN]