Printing in the Western world began with Johann Gutenberg and his monumental Bible of 1455. The invention of printing from movable type changed the production of books from being written out by hand, one at a time, to printed editions as we know them today. This led to a vast increase in the publication of books, encompassing a multitude of both religious and secular subjects. Books printed in the fifteenth century, known as incunabula (a term which refers to "the cradle" of printing), are prized as artifacts of the infancy of printing ...
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San Francisco: Grabhorn Press, 1929. 24mo. (xiv), 54pp. One of 425 copies. Color frontispiece of Plantin, eleven-line color initial to start of text. A survey of the renowned printer's works. Minor soiling, else near fine in full vellum with gilt ruling. More
(Mainz: Peter Schoeffer, 1473). Single leaf. Gregory IX's Decretales completed the work of the Decretum of Gratian to systematize the mass of pronouncements issued throughout the Early Middle Ages. In his Decretales, first produced in 1234, Gregory IX paid particular attention to the doctrine of perpetual servitude of the Jews..... More
(Bologna: Caligola Bazalieri, 1501). Quarto. (94)ff. This edition is based on the version published by Caligola Bazalieri’s brother, Bazaliero Bazalieri, in July 1491. The text is Ovid’s Heroides, a collection of imaginary letters written from ancient mythological heroines to the lovers who abandoned or mistreated them, including Penelope, Dido, Ariadne..... More
Paris: Simon du Bois for Geoffrey Tory, 1527. Octavo. 140ff. With twelve woodcut illustrations from thirteen blocks, Tory's "pot cassé" device on title page and colophon, and each page with a four-piece border in twenty-six distinct combinations. The lower blocks of several borders feature coats of arms, including those of..... More
