Browse Items (225 total)

EnglishIn this work and in others, we see very fine lines in red that delineate different spaces on the page for the printed text. This work carries over the medieval practice used by manuscript copyists, that is, the ruling of spaces in the text in…

EnglishA Venetian, Gabriele Giolito de Ferrari (1508-1578), established a bookstore and printing shop in Venice with his father, named “Liberia del Fenice” (the Phoenix bookstore). As we have seen with other printer’s devices, the mark may illustrate…

EnglishThis item is on display to show the exquisite richness of the engraving shown. Note the texture and pristine whiteness of the paper used; this was intended for a reader seeking luxury. The engraving would have been passed through the press at…

English This book offers a typical example of the classic formula of “promise” and “reward” that one regularly finds in books of the 15th and 16th centuries. The phrasing varies as per the personality and humour of the owner and how much value he…

English This exquisite example of a mark of ownership is not even that of a book owner but that of a bookseller in Glasgow, Scotland, who had this item for sale in their shop. This practice ensured that this item could be traced back to its original…

EnglishClassical texts, authors and classical languages formed the majority of texts printed in the early days of printing. While this item is not as old as its counterparts in the Collection, it does display, very richly, the elaborate Greek fonts…

English In a fine and elegant script, the annotations appearing in the margins of the work by Papinus are of the hand of a French reader. Due to the distance of several centuries, it is difficult to identify the commentator, but the annotations…

Anglais The endleaves of this book house a text on the wars of religion which occurred during the reign of Henri IV, specifically on the war that was titled the “Guerre des trois Henri” in 1585. The text speaks primarily of the Huguenots. Français…

EnglishRobert Estienne (1503-1559) was the second son of printer Henri Estienne. After his father’s death in 1520, he collaborated with his older brother François and Simon de Colines (whose printer’s device we see in another item on display in this…

EnglishThe eloquence of Cicero appears to have wildly inspired a number of readers. However, in one case, someone seems less inspired by the art of discourse than infused with a burining desire to go Spear-fiching. If the messy and free-spirited…