_Aldo Manuccio, born at Bassano, succeeded Jenson at Venice and turned
to good account the latter’s admirable founts of type. He also made
many advances in the art of printing, the most notable of which is the
invention of the style of type now known as Italic. It was first used in
an octavo edition of Virgil issued by him in 1501, and Pope Leo X. gave
him a letter of privilege, entitling him to the sole use of the type he
had invented. It was said to be founded on the handwriting of Petrarch,
which it closely resembles._
Italic was largely employed to distinguish such parts of a book as might
be considered appendages, as _Prefaces_, _Introductions_, _Annotations_,
&c., all of which were formerly printed in this character; so that
perhaps two-fifths of a fount was composed of Italic letter.
At present it is used more sparingly, being superseded by the more
elegant mode of enclosing extracts within inverted commas, and by setting
poetry and annotations in a smaller-sized type. It is very appropriately
used to distinguish the head or subject-matter of a chapter, and is
serviceable in grammars and other school-books as well as scientific
works. The frequent use of Italic words among Roman in ordinary matter
impairs the beauty of the page, and ought to be avoided; yet authors
sometimes stubbornly insist on the gratification of their whimsies, even
at the sacrifice of every principle of correct taste.