Notable Printers of Italy During the Fifteenth Century
A study of early Italian roman type by the New York printer Theodore Low De Vinne, published by the Grolier Club in 400 copies.
What it is
A study of early Italian roman type by the New York printer Theodore Low De Vinne, published by the Grolier Club in 400 copies. Its method is comparison by evidence: 41 full-page facsimiles photo-engraved from books in members' collections, each captioned with printer, city, date and catalogue numbers, so the reader can judge Sweinheim and Pannartz at Subiaco against Jenson, Ratdolt, Renner and Aldus in Venice. De Vinne argues that Jenson's roman has been overrated as the single model, that lesser printers such as Hahn and Miscomini deserve notice, and that the first purpose of a book is to be read. The chapters on Aldus cover his editing, his Greek types, the italic of 1501 and the pirates who copied it. Closing chapters treat title-pages, type-founding, ink, paper, composition and the hand press, and blame pale modern printing on cheap paper, haste and weak impression.
Why read it now
The core test holds: judge type by the reading it produces, not by fame or novelty. De Vinne's warning that authors and publishers wrongly seek distinctiveness through a peculiar new typeface fits later brand research: Jenni Romaniuk's work on distinctive assets ties distinctiveness to consistent, long use rather than novelty, and processing-fluency studies find that text which is easy to read is judged more favourably. His history of the title-page is a lesson in labelling: buyers once searched the last leaves to learn who made a book, then demanded the name on the first. The Aldus chapters show that a patent did not stop copies; a Lyons printer even used Aldus's mark. What has dated: the claim that roman letters are superior to the characters of any other language, which an Arabic reader can set aside, the talk of masculine and feminine presswork, and his distrust of coated paper and halftones. To use it: when choosing a brand typeface, compare candidates on the same text at real size, and put the brand name where the buyer looks first.
Passages worth keeping
The first purpose of the book is to be read; it was not made to be shown or sold as an exhibit of skill in the crafts of paper-making, type-founding, engraving, or binding.
الكتاب يُصنع ليُقرأ أولًا، لا ليكون معرضًا لمهارة صانعي الورق والحروف والنقش والتجليد.
Book buyers wanted the name of the book, as well as that of the printer and publisher, exposed in large type on the first leaf of the book, so that all could be seen at first glance.
أراد المشترون أن يروا اسم الكتاب واسم الطابع والناشر بخط كبير في أول ورقة، ليعرفوا ذلك كله من النظرة الأولى.
A printer at Lyons reproduced this Virgil, with other Aldine classics, in a close imitation of this Italic, and with the trade-mark of Aldus, and sold the books wherever he could as the work of Aldus's presses.
قلد طابع في ليون كتب ألدوس وحرفه المائل وعلامته التجارية، وباعها في كل مكان على أنها من مطبعة ألدوس.
Equally unfortunate is the erroneous belief of many authors and publishers that distinctiveness in print can be secured by the use of a new face of type which has marked peculiarities.
من الخطأ أن يظن المؤلفون والناشرون أن التميز في المطبوع يأتي من استخدام حرف جديد غريب الملامح.
The types now most approved are those that are simplest, plainest, and most readable.
الحروف الأكثر قبولًا اليوم هي الأبسط والأوضح والأسهل قراءة.
The scanned text has OCR errors. The passages are quoted from it, with only obvious slips fixed.
What it teaches best
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