Aldus Manutius and the Aldine Press: A famous press established in Venice in
1494 by one of the most distinguished scholar-printers of the 16th cent. Aldus
Manutius (1449–1515). During the twenty-one years of his activity Aldus
deliberately devoted his energies to the cause of scholarship and did more
than any other man to facilitate the spread of the new learning among the
scholars of Europe. The work by which he is most widely known is the long
series of small octavo volumes of Greek and Latin classics, bearing his device
of an anchor and dolphin. Aldus was the first printer to design a small book,
which was convenient for the student. In order to compress the texts into the
limited compass of the octavo volume Aldus needed a type quite different from
the roman and gothic letters then in use for large library folios. In 1501 he
therefore designed a new small type, which was based on the cursive script
then fashionable in Italy. It is from this type that the letter we call italic
derives. Aldus also designed a Greek type for which the handwriting of his
friend Marcus Musurus is said to have served as a model. The wide influence of
the Aldine books set a fashion in Greek letters, which lasted for three
centuries.
Codex: an ancient manuscript text in book form.
Engraving: Term applied to various processes of cutting a design into a plate or block of metal or wood, and to the prints taken from these plates or blocks – prevalent in Renaissance book illustration.
Gutenberg, Johann (c.1400–?68), the inventor of printing with movable types. Born at Mainz, he learned printing skills in Strasburg. In 1436 he founded a press in partnership with Fust, who provided the capital. Fust dissolved the partnership acrimoniously in 1455 and took possession of the implements and stock. Books published up to 1455 cannot be assigned with confidence to Gutenberg or Fust or Fust's son-in-law Peter Schöffer, but the 42-line Latin Bible known as the ‘Gutenberg Bible’, printed at Mainz in 1453–5, is usually attributed to Gutenberg.
Facsimile: an exact copy, esp. of writing, production of an exact copy of a document, etc., by electronic scanning and transmission
Folio: a large size of book in which the page size results from folding a standard printer's sheet of paper in half, forming two leaves (i.e. four pages). The collected editions of Shakespeare's plays published after his death, as distinct from the earlier.
Historiated: Describes an initial letter in an illumined Manuscripts, which is decorated with designs representing scenes from the text.
Illuminated Manuscript: Books written by hand, decorated with paintings and
ornaments of different kinds. The word ‘illuminated’ comes from a usage of the
Latin word illuminare in connection with oratory or prose style, where it
means ‘adorn’. The decorations are of three main types: (a)(a) miniatures or
small pictures, not always illustrative, incorporated into the text or
occupying the whole page or part of the border; (b)(b) initial letters either
containing scenes (historiated initials) or with elaborate decoration; (c)(c)
borders, which may consist of miniatures, occasionally illustrative, or more
often are composed of decorative motifs. They may enclose the whole of the
text space or occupy only a small part of the margin of the page.
Manuscripts are for the most part written on skin ) Parchment or vellum). From
the 14th cent. paper was used for less sumptuous copies. Although a number of
books have miniatures and ornaments executed in outline drawing only, the
majority are fully colored. After the preparation of the vellum a sketch was
first made. This was often quite rudimentary and omitted many details. The
portions destined for gilding were covered with a base in order that the gold
would stick more securely, and the gold was burnished. The main blocks of
color were then laid on. Enough of the under-drawing remained visible to guide
the later stages of the work. Finally the details of the drapery and
complexions were added. The colors were usually mixed with a Tempera medium
made with egg and gum dissolved in water.
Though wonderful manuscripts were produced in the 15th cent. illumination by then tended more and more to follow the lead given by painters, and with the invention of printing the illuminated book gradually went out of fashion. During the early years of the 16th cent. Fine manuscripts were still being made, but even at this time they were becoming an anachronism. During the 15th and 16th cents. illuminations were added to printed books. These usually consisted of initials and borders; miniatures were less common. Some of the finest come from Italy.
Italic: A slightly slanted letter form based on a style of handwriting favored by Italian humanists; introduced into European printing in 1501 by the Venetian printer Aldo Manuzio (Aldus Manutius). Originally a separate typeface, italic has long been combined with Roman as a marker for certain kinds of information in a text
Jensen, Nicholas: born 1420 in Sommevoire, France, died 1480 in Venice, Italy – type founder, punch cutter, printer, and publisher. It is thought Jenson was punch cutter (master of the mint) for the royal mint in Tours or Paris. 1458: Carl VII sends Jenson to Mainz to learn the technique of movable metal type and bring it back to Paris. Spends time in Frankfurt am Main. From 1468 onwards: Jenson is in Venice, where he opens and runs his printing workshop, which produces c. 150 books. Produces his first roman type "Cicero, Epistolae ad Brutum", which is described as perfect and unequaled.
Octavo: a book size resulting from folding a printer's sheet of paper three times to make eight leaves (i.e. 16 pages): thus a size smaller than quarto – Aldus created the Renaissance octavo or “pocketbook”
Parchment: Writing material made from the skins of sheep or calf, less frequently pig, goat, and other animals; it has also been used for painting, and occasionally for printing and bookbinding. Pliny says that it was invented in the 2nd century BC in Pergamum; hence the name ‘parchment’ (from Lat., pergamena: ‘of Pergamum’). Skin had been used as a writing material before this, but the refined methods of cleaning and stretching involved in making parchment enabled both sides of a leaf to be used, leading eventually to the supplanting of the manuscript roll by the bound book. Vellum is a fine kind of parchment made from the delicate skins of young (sometimes stillborn) animals. Paper began to replace parchment from about the 14th century in Europe, but parchment is still used for certain kinds of documents, and the name is often applied to high-quality writing paper
Printer’s mark: a logo serving as a printer's trademark.
Quarto: a size of book or page that results from folding a standard printer's sheet twice, forming four leaves (i.e. eight pages). Many of Shakespeare's plays first appeared in quarto editions
Scribe: a person who writes out document, esp. an ancient or medieval copyist of manuscripts
Scriptorium. Room assigned in a medieval convent establishment for the copying and storage of texts.
Vasari, Giorgio (1511–74), Italian painter, architect, and author of The Lives of the Most Excellent Italian Architects, Painters and Sculptors (1550 and 1568), for generations the main source for the history of Italian art
Vellum: A writing material, vellum is a fine kind of Parchment made from the delicate skins of young (sometimes stillborn) animals. During the Renaissance parchment and vellum were almost entirely superseded by heavy, hand-made paper
Venetian font: A style of typeface design that appeared in the 15th century, characterized by the wide set of the lowercase letters and bold serifs.
Watermark: The mark of a paper manufacturer, it can be included in either laid or wove paper by incorporating a wire pattern in the mould in which the paper is made. These marks can usually be identified from the various dictionaries of watermarks, which have appeared.