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Posted by: Patrick Hastings
During the hand press era, composing the text of a book was among the most technical elements of the printing process. This post describes the labor involved in typesetting and imposition.
Posted in: 14th Century, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, Book Anatomy, Education Outreach, History of the Book, type
Posted by: Patrick Hastings
Most of us learned in school that Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, which is not entirely accurate. He is, however, conventionally credited with inventing the process of mass-producing individual pieces of type. These innovations in moveable type allowed for books to be efficiently produced in large quantities and revolutionized the human ability to share ideas. This post explains the multi-step process of mass-producing metal letters to be used in printing texts.
Posted in: 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, Book Anatomy, Education Outreach, Famous Printers, History of the Book, Manuscript and Letterpress (Hand Press), type
Posted by: Patrick Hastings
Before today's thin, brittle paper made from wood pulp became standard, paper was handcrafted by experts using linen rags as the essential material. This post explains the process by which rag paper was made in Europe for centuries.
Posted in: 14th Century, 15th Century, 16th Century, Book Anatomy, Education Outreach, History of the Book, Paper
Posted by: Marianna Stell
At the end of the fifteenth century, simplified versions of medical charts featuring an image of the "Zodiac Man" began to appear in Books of Hours. The Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division contains many examples of these printed editions, one of which uses a skeleton in place of the Zodiac Man.
Posted in: 15th Century, 16th Century, Illustrated Book, Manuscript and Letterpress (Hand Press), Medicine, Seasonal
Posted by: Marianna Stell
Learn about Sebastian Gryphius, one of the most celebrated printers of sixteenth century Lyon, and about the books printed by him which are held by the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. Gryphius printed Latin textbooks and works by humanist authors and was instrumental in divulging the ideas of the renaissance to Lyon and France.
Posted in: 16th Century, Famous Printers, France, Manuscript and Letterpress (Hand Press)
Posted by: Michael North
Printed in Basel in 1543, Andreas Vesalius' De Humani Corporis Fabrica is considered to be the first "modern" medical book that emphasizes clinical observation over a dependence on ancient texts. The Library of Congress has recently digitized its copy of De Fabrica, which was part of the generous gift of Lessing J. Rosenwald to the nation.
Posted in: 16th Century, Education History, History of Science, Illustrated Book, Manuscript and Letterpress (Hand Press)
Posted by: Marianna Stell
In 1546, Charlotte Guillard (ca. 1485–1557) owned one of the most prestigious printing houses in Paris, the Soleil d’Or, and that year she printed an impressive, updated edition of the letters of Saint Jerome under her own name. The editor and commentator of this particular book, however, was the famous Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus (1468?-1536), whose published annotations on Jerome had been censured by the Venetian Inquisition and the Index of the University of Paris two years prior.
Posted in: 16th Century, Censorship, Women in Book History
Posted by: Marianna Stell
The Library of Congress has several important works by the printmaker, painter, and art theorist, Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), including his famous engraving, Melencolia I (1514), and his Treatise on Measurement (1525).
Posted in: 16th Century, Fine Prints, History of Mathematics, History of Science, Illustrated Book, Manuscript and Letterpress (Hand Press)
Posted by: Marianna Stell
Gregor Reisch's (c.1470-1525) encyclopedic textbook, Margarita Philosophica (Philosophical Pearl) contains a woodcut that speaks to the process of education in the sixteenth century.
Posted in: 16th Century, Illustrated Book, Manuscript and Letterpress (Hand Press)