Cornucopiae linguae latinae

Printer Aldus Manutius, editor/printer, Venice

Binder F. Bedford

Author Nicolaus Perottus (Italian?, 1430-1480)

Author Nicolaus Perottus (Niccolò Perotti) (Italian?, 1430-1480)

Place of OriginItaly (Venice)

DateJuly, 1499

DimensionsLeaf: Approx. 12 3/8 x 8 1/8 in.

ClassificationBooks

Object number

1926.3

Not on View

Label TextAldus Manutius was the first great scholar-printer. He set up his press in Venice around 1495 in order to print and publish the classics in Greek and Latin. He invited skillful compositors, notable scholars, and learned humanists to work on his projects, in order to maintain a high scholarly standard. Aldus is important because he was the first printer to break away from the traditional patterns of bookmaking based on medieval manuscripts. He was the first major publisher to insist on scholarly editing, and the first to produce small books (especially in octavo format) in relatively large editions so that a larger audience of European readers might obtain them. His types - greek, roman, italic - broke new ground and dominated European printing for 200 years [from Joseph Blumenthal, ART OF THE PRINTED BOOK 1455-1955]. This volume is an early example showing the appearance of numbered pages (instead of numbered leaves), and the first book where the lines of type are also numbered. The elegant nineteenth century binding is by Francis Bedford, an English bookbinder who was considered unsurpassed by any of his contemporaries.