[Illustration: J. BESICKEN.
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[Illustration: THIERRY MARTENS.
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Printing was introduced into Venice by Johannes de Spira in 1469, and,
as showing the extent to which it was quickly carried, Panzer reckons
that up to the end of the fifteenth century, no fewer than 189 printers
had established themselves here, and had issued close upon 3,000 works.
From 1469 to 1480, over sixty master printers were found within the
precincts of the city. The first of the superb series of early printed
books produced here is the folio edition of Cicero, “Epistolæ ad
Familiares,” 1469, although the honour of being the most magnificent
production appears to be equally divided between the Livy and the
Virgil, 1470, executed by John of Spira’s brother and successor
Vindelinus. So far as we know, neither of the two brothers, nor Nicolas
Jenson, 1470-88, many of whose beautiful books rivalled the De Spiras’,
used a Mark.
[Illustration: ERHARDUS RATDOLT.
Erhardi Ratdolt foelicia conspice signa.
Testata artificem qua valet ipse manum.]
Erhardus Ratdolt may be regarded as one of the earliest, if not actually
the first Venetian printer to adopt a Mark. From 1476 to 1478 he was in
partnership with Bernardus Pictor and Petrus Loslein de Langencen, but
from the latter year to 1485 he was exercising the art alone. (It is not
altogether foreign to our subject to mention that this firm printed the
“Calendar” of John de Monteregio, 1476, which has the first ornamental
title known.) In 1487, Ratdolt was at Augsburg, and perhaps his claims
as a printer are German rather than Venetian, but as his best work was
executed during his sojourn in Venice, it will be more convenient to
include him in the present chapter. Like so many others of the early
printers, he regarded his own performances with no little
self-complacency, for in his colophons he describes himself, “Vir
solertissimus, imprimendi arte nominatissimus, artis impressoriæ
magister apprimè famosus, perpolitus opifex, vir sub orbe notus,” and so
forth. To him is attributed the credit of having invented ink of a
golden colour; and he was the first to employ the “flourishes,” (“literæ
florentes”) or initial letters formed of floral scrolls and ornaments
borrowed from the Italian manuscripts, and sometimes printed in red and
sometimes in black. Joannes and Gregorius de Gregoriis, 1480-1516, and
Gregorius alone, 1516-28, make a very good show in the way of printed
books, one of the most notable being the first quarto edition of
Boccaccio, 1516, and another the “Deutsch Römisch Brevier,” 1518, which
is printed in black and red Gothic letter with numerous full-page
woodcuts and borders. Contemporary with these two brothers and also
famous as a prolific printer comes Ottaviano Scotto, “Civis
Modoetiẽsis,” 1480-1500, and his heirs, 1500-31, of whose Mark we give
an exact reproduction. Baptista de Tortis, 1481-1514, also issued a
number of interesting books, more particularly folio editions of the
classics, copies of which are still frequently met with, and of whose
Mark we give a reduced example on p. 25; and the same may be said of
Bernardinus Stagninus, 1483-1536. The Mark, also, of Bernardinus de
Vitalibus, 1494-1500, is sufficiently distinct to justify a reduced
example. Bartholomeus de Zanis, 1486-1500, was not only a prolific
printer on his own account, but also for Scotto, to whom reference is
made above. The Marks, on a greatly reduced scale of Dionysius
Bertochus, 1480; of Laurentius Rubeus de Valentia, 1482; of Nicholas de
Francfordia, 1473-1500; and of Peregrino de Pasqualibus, 1483-94, who
was for a short time in partnership with Dionysius de Bertochus, are all
interesting as more or less distinct variations of one common type (see
p. 25). Of Petrus Liechtenstein, 1497-1522, who describes himself as
“Coloniensis,” and whose very fine Mark in red and black forms the
frontispiece to the present volume, it will be only necessary to refer
to one of his books, the “Biblij Czeska,” 1506, which is the first
edition for the use of the Hussites. Of this exceedingly rare edition,
only about four copies are known. It is remarkable in not having been
suppressed by the Church, for one example of its numerous woodcuts
(which are coloured) at once betrays its character, viz., the engraving
to the sixth chapter of the Apocalypse, in which the Pope appears lying
in hell. As illustrative of some of the more elaborate and pictorial
Marks which one finds in the books of the Venetian printers during the
sixteenth century, we give a couple of very distinct examples, the first
being one of the Marks of the Sessa family, whose works date from 1501
to 1588; and the second example distinguishing the books of the brothers
Paulum and Antonium Meietos, who were printing books in 1570.
[Illustration: OTTAVIANO SCOTTO.
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[Illustration: MELCHIOR SESSA.