OTHER ITALIAN TOWNS
_Rome_
We have alluded in the preceding chapter to the paucity of woodcut
initials in early works printed at Rome, and it is well known that
the opinions of the clergy were divided with respect to the propriety
of adding decorative embellishments to books. Some church dignitaries
considered it a pious occupation, whilst others, who looked upon the
copying of manuscripts as a sure way of attaining salvation,[28] were
entirely against book ornamentation. It is probably on account of some
such hostility on the part of the ecclesiastical authorities that
ornamental initials are so seldom met with in books of the early Roman
printers. In a list, for instance, of seventy-nine works published
by Planck, only one, a _Pontificale_ of 1485, is mentioned as having
woodcut initials; in the same list, of thirty-nine books by Eucharius
Silber, there is one only with ornamental letters. Lastly, of one
hundred and seventy-eight other works by seventeen known and six
unknown printers, only two are reported as being so embellished. Of
the earlier printers, Sweynheim and Pannartz used some very handsome
initials in a few of their publications after 1470, the D reproduced
being from their Suetonius, _Vitæ Cæsarum_. We give also a P from one
of E. Silber’s publications, and a C with the portrait of Ariosto from
a work published by Jacobus Mazochius, 1515.
[28] A propos of manuscript copying, there was an anecdote current
in _Scriptoria_ concerning a brother who had sinned very constantly
whilst in the flesh, and who was challenged by St. Peter at the Gate
of Paradise. The tally at first seemed to go against the applicant,
but at last it was found that he had been for some time a scribe;
written letters were checked against sins, and the frater was found
to have a small but sufficient balance in his favour.
Siennese impressions are anything but common, and as the early
typography of this town still awaits a historian, a short account of
a few works from its chief press will not be out of place. The most
important is no doubt the Datus, printed by Simeon Nardi in 1503. The
title consists of two lines in small Gothic characters, _Augustini dati
senensis opera_, and underneath come three sonnets by admirers of Datus
(for the name is spelt indifferently, Datus or Dathus), in each of
which he is compared to Cicero. ‘Read through,’ says Angelus Fundius,
‘this venerable volume of the facund Dathus, but take care I advise you
to glance first at the title page.’ ‘Nam si forte vagus legeres, mihi
crede putares non esse hoc Dathi sed Ciceronis opus.’ The others are
equally complimentary. The volume is a folio collection of speeches and
essays on all kinds of subjects, and consists of fourteen preliminary,
followed by two hundred and ninety numbered leaves, or twice as
many pages. There are sixty lines to the page of small, clear Roman
type, pleasantly relieved by curious little capitals. The colophon
gives ‘Impressum Senis ex Architypo per Symeonem Nicolai Nardi, Anno
salutis MDIII Sexto Kal Novembris,’ and on the verso is Nardi’s mark
representing a child holding a banneret astride a wolf, which is
suckling another child beneath. The whole is surrounded by a highly
ornamented border.
The most interesting feature, however, of the book is its series of
large initials, which, taking into consideration the two different
states of the Q, are fourteen in number.[29] The most characteristic,
and perhaps the most effective, are those on a black ground, but the
others are equally free and vigorous in treatment. One of them, the R,
has the same subject (Romulus and Remus with the wolf) as the printer’s
mark, a subject which is used in other volumes as a pictorial
title-page. The reason of this is explained in the motto at the bottom
of the mark in another book,
‘ROMAE QUE ORIGO SENAE INSIGNIA.’
[29] In some of the proofs the Q is a white letter, the original
block being cut away.
Unfortunately, as is so often the case, the impressions are not all
equally good, but it is easy to see that where anything is wanting, it
is the fault of the printing and not of the artist.
The letters of this series were much used in subsequent publications,
but with the exception of an ornamental M of the same style which
comes from a book of poetry published by Simon Rubeo in 1513, and an
I in a tract by Marcellus Beringhuccius not of the same merit, we
have not seen any Sienna letters that are not in the Dathus. It is
to be remarked that the volumes which have an ornamental title-page
have no printer’s mark, and _vice versa_, the first not occurring in
publications before 1539.
Two of the Nardi initials, the P and the C, are to be met with in
a quarto volume, ‘C Plinio de li homini illustri in lingua senese
traducto et brevemente commentato,’ which is printed in the _Inclyta
& Excelsa citta di Sena_ by that accurate man Symeone di Nicolao
Carrolaro Senese, 1506. The mark is different in some details, although
practically the same as in the Dathus.
The _Vespertinæ lectiones_ of Marcellus Beringhuccius has the H and
some others. The printer’s name varies again, being given as ‘Impressum
per Calistrum Symeonis Senen. Ad instantiam Ioannis Alixandri Libraio
1511.’ The title is surrounded by a border of oak leaves and acorns. On
the verso of the first page the dedication to Cosmo de Medici begins
with the handsome H, and is followed on the next page by an interesting
cut representing the burial of Christ. The text on the verso of this
page begins with the L. The second part of the book, ‘For the comfort
of those who wish to live well, etc.,’ begins with the historiated N,
‘Impresso in Siena per Calisto Francese di Simeone Bindi, 1541. Ad
instantiam d’Giovanni di Alisandro Libraio.’
Another volume of _Vespertinæ lectiones_ of the same author was
published in 1539, the printer’s name being given in the same way, and
the same bookseller being mentioned. It has the N and the D, as well as
a new I, mentioned above. The book, published on the 5th of March, has
a title-page with a border of foliated branches that spring below from
a common trunk and meet together above. The lower third is occupied
by the Siennese wolf and children, with a town in the distance. Two
tracts of Marcus Antonius Belarmatus on legal subjects were published
by Symeon Nicolai in 1539, with the same ornamental border. In one
of them the only large initial is the N. In the other, the title is
printed in black, and the D and the Q of the white variety complete its
ornamentation. The last book chronologically in which we have met with
the Nardi initials is a _Life_ by Feo Belcari of Beato Columbini da
Siena, ‘fondatore del ordine di poveri giesuati.’
Like so many of the Venetian ornaments, the borders and initials of
Fossombrone are mostly with a black ground, but this is _criblé_ in a
special manner.
The most important book of this town, where printing was introduced in
1513 by Ottaviano dei Petrucci, is a treatise by Paul de Middelburg
with beautiful borders and initials, _On the right way of celebrating
Easter, and the day of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ_, a work of
great rarity and filled with singular researches for fixing Easter Day,
and the date of the death of our Saviour.
The initials have branching ornaments, and children playing with one
another, one holding up a mask, or with birds. One of them can be seen
in Butsch.
The principal printer of Pavia, at the beginning of the sixteenth
century, was Jacobus Paucidrapensis de Burgofranco, whose books have
very handsome ornamental and historiated initials, the latter with
portraits of celebrated men. His _Hyginus de Stellis_, published in
1513 at the expense of the heirs of ‘that late nobleman Octavianus Scot
and his associates,’ has several. The D given here is from this volume.
The O with another portrait, and the four other letters F, L, N, P,
are also specimens of this press, but we have not been able to identify
them more particularly.
J. de Burgofranco also uses a smaller alphabet in the same style of
ornament.
Printing was introduced at Como in 1521, the seven initials given
being taken from the first book printed there, the treatise of
Vitruvius on Architecture. In this remarkably handsome volume, full
of architectural diagrams and plans, there is, amongst others, an
‘elevation’ of the cathedral of Milan. Como had long been celebrated
for the beauty of its situation, for the colophon, after giving the
names of the ‘magnificent’ and ‘noble commentators,’ ‘emendators,’ and
‘castigators,’ states that the volume was printed by Gotardus de Ponte
in the _Amoena & delecteuole citate de Como_. In one of the initials, a
D, there is a view of a lake with sailing boats in a shower of rain, no
doubt intended to be Como.
The U with the Crucifixion and the O representing St. Jerome are our
only specimens of the press of Guillaume le Signerre, a Rouen printer
who set up at the beginning of the sixteenth century at Saluzzo.
The book from which they are taken is an extremely handsome edition
of the _Aureum Opus_ of Vivaldus, so often reprinted, and it has a
full-page engraving with St. Jerome, the same subject as in one of the
initials, and on another page the portrait of Le Signerre’s patron; at
the end the printer’s mark. The colophon states that it was printed
at Saluzzo by the most deserving brothers, Le Signerre of Rouen, at
the expense of that most illustrious and clement prince, Lodovicus,
Marquis of Saluzzo, and viceregent of Naples. With the exception of
an insignificant floral letter at the beginning of the preface, the
two initials given are the only ones in the book, the T with the
Crucifixion occurring twice. The brothers Signerre would appear to
have tried their fortune elsewhere before going to Saluzzo. In 1496
they were printing at Milan, giving the _Practica Musice_ of Franchini
Gafori, with fine borders and initials.
_Ferrara,[30] Milan, etc._--One of the most celebrated books of its
day was the _De plurimis claris selectisque mulieribus_ of Philip
Bergomensis, described as being revised and ‘castigated’ with great
diligence by that ‘great doctor in theology, Master Albert de Placentia
and brother Augustinus de Casili maiori,’ _Ferrarie impressum opera et
impensa magistri Laurentii de Rubeis de Valencia_.
[30] Ferrara is known to art students in connection with initial
letters by the alphabet of Fra Vespasiano Amphiareo, a Renaissance
calligraphist, which is often reproduced in works on manuscript
ornamentation.
For the general student this work, which took rank at once as one of
the most artistic publications of the time, is chiefly interesting
on account of the portraits of the celebrated women whose histories
it relates, but besides these there is a nearly complete alphabet
of initials which harmonise perfectly with the woodcut engravings.
Although different in treatment, the design is very similar to that
used by Regiomontanus of Nuremberg, but with the addition of an
occasional mascaron, or head of a dolphin. Very decorative, although
simple, on the printed page, they lose some of their effect when
brought together as an alphabet.
The volume begins with a linear M representing the Virgin and child.
The other set of initials, of an entirely different kind, is taken from
the _Missale Carthusiense_, printed by the monks at their monastery at
Ferrara in 1503, and generally known as the Missal of Ferrara. _Missale
secundum ordinem Carthusiensem. Impressum in Monasterio Carthusie
Ferrarie Diligenter emendatum per Monachos ejusdem Domus Regnante
Excellentissimo D.D. Duce Hercule Esten. Anno a nativitate domini
MCCCCCIII._
In many of the other Italian towns, although printing was established
at an early date, the ornamentation of books was comparatively
neglected, and there are few or no initials of interest to be mentioned.
Foligno, for example, was one of the first places where the art
of printing was introduced. J. Neumeister, one of the workmen and
associates of Gutenberg, published there in 1470 a superb folio,
_Leonardi Aretini Bruni de bello italico adversus Gothos_.
At Milan, Philip of Lavagna gave a small quarto, the _Miracoli de la
Gloriosa Verzene Maria_, dated 1469; but this date is a mistake, and it
was really in 1474 or 1479 that the tract appeared.
Zarotus was printing at this town in 1471, and three years later
Christopher Valdarfer began operations.
When initials occur in the books of these printers they resemble
somewhat those of Venice, but they are of unequal merit, some being
coarsely cut and merely curious, others of the highest artistic
excellence. Of the first, the M and T from the _Opus auree et
inexplicabilis bonitatis et continentie_, printed by Joannes de
Castellione in 1513, will serve as an example.
The six other letters are from works by Gotardus de Ponte, and are to
be found also in a book called _Calipsychia_ of 1511; in the _Life of
Saint Veronica_ by Isidorus de Isolanis, of 1518; also in an _Opus
auree_ which seems to have been printed everywhere, dated 1513.
The Q with a very black border, a circle of white dots, an ornament in
each corner, and a saint with crozier looking to the right, comes from
the _Sermons of St. Bernard_, Milan, Leonard Pachel, 1495.
The smallest series is from a volume of Decretals by Ulric
Scinzenzeller.
At Florence printing was introduced in 1471 by Bernardo Cennini, who
commenced at once the composition of the Commentaries of Servius on
Virgil, which was published the following year.
To Giovanni Tedesco we are indebted for editions of the _Philocolo_
of Boccaccio and the _Trionfi_ of Petrarch. But the most celebrated
Florence printer of the fifteenth century was Nicolo di Lorenzo
(Nicolaus Laurentii) of Breslau, the publisher of the celebrated Dante
with engravings of 1481.
Books printed at Verona at the beginning of the sixteenth century are
not common, and woodcut initials are even more seldom met with, but
we have been able to find one or two in a tract printed by Lucas
Antonius, or Luc Antonio Giunta, of Florence, in 1504, which is
extremely curious in many ways. The text on the title-page is arranged
in the form of a cross, and runs as follows: _Delitiosam explicationem
de sensibilibus deliciis paradisi a D. Celso Mapheo Veronense Canonico
regulari editam hoc libello lector agnoscere poteris et ipsa plurimum
oblectari valebis._ On the verso of the last page is a very fine mark
of Lucas Antonius. The ornamentation of the book is completed by
numerous woodcut initials of various sizes, but mostly as badly cut as
printed. There are several letters of an interlaced pattern, but the
two we have selected are the most interesting, the C with the gladiator
and lion occurring at the beginning of the first chapter, the Q being
repeated twice. There is also a historiated P with a child, a little
smaller.
Books of the beginning of the fifteenth century published at Brescia
have a few good initials, more or less in the Venetian style. An S,
with a winged child with bow and arrows, probably a Cupid, is to be met
with in several impressions. The P, with a saint in the same style, and
a somewhat larger P, prolonged as a border, have the same origin.
The very wide C, with a monk at a latticed window, is from a volume of
Brescia, in which there are also three or four insignificant floral
initials in the style of Grüninger’s least interesting letters,
an engraved title-page with the portraits of celebrated men in
compartments, and on the verso of the last page a Virgin and child with
irradiating flames. The title, _Theophrasti Natalii Cychuthoe Teutonici
Invectivae_, _Maxima cum diligentia Brixiae impressum_, it is said, but
without giving the printer’s name.
At Vicenza initials were also mostly in the Venetian style, but
inferior as a rule to the originals. In one volume, a _Catalogus
Sanctorum_, printed by Henricus de Sancto Urso in 1493, there are two
typographical eccentricities which, as they have to do with initials,
are worth pointing out. In some early volumes ornamental initials
are occasionally met with of such primitive execution, that the only
possible explanation is, that the necessary letter being wanting,
it was cut on the spur of the moment by an entirely unskilled hand.
Amongst the initials which occur the least often at the beginning of
Latin paragraphs are the B and G, and of course such letters as X,
Y, Z. It is probable that when this _Catalogus_ was being set up,
there was no G amongst the ornamental alphabets available, for no
other paragraph in the book begins with this letter. To meet this
contingency, the required initial was cut forthwith, the result being
the G in question, roughly representing a human face. The other
singularity is an instance of the transposition of letters, of which
examples have been already given, but here, instead of turning an A or
a C upside down to serve as a V or a D, it is an F that does duty both
for an F and an E. At the beginning of the eighth book there is an E
for St. Ezekiel, which has evidently been made from an F, the lower
transversal part having been cut afterwards, as can be seen by the
rough execution and the disturbance of the general ornamentation. But
the transposition of an F into an E is a thing that often occurs. The
peculiarity here is that at the tenth book, which begins with the feast
of All Saints, _Festivitas omnium Sanctorum_, an F being required,
the same block is used as for Ezekiel, the letter being restored to
its first condition by a plug, but showing clearly traces of its
transformations.