Chromolithographs above, by David Ferland, circa 1850
We discussed the founders of new typefaces, Gutenberg, Jenson, Griffo, Manutius & Bembo.
We looked at some essential INCUNABULA: Gutenberg's Bible, Catholicon, The Mainz Selter, Plantin's Biblia Polyglotta, Erhardt Ratdolt, Tyndale's Bible, Geoffroy Tory, The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili...
Also, the reasons for the shift from Gothic to Roman.
Pick your favorite!
11 comments:
I researched Plantin's Biblia Polyglotta, and while delving deeper into the history and quality of this piece, I understand the glory behind its name. Plantain’s Biblia Polyglotta, also known as Biblia Regia or the King’s Bible was written by Christopher Plantin and published in Antwerp between 1568 and 1573. It was written as an expression of loyalty to the King Philip || of Spain. The eight-volume masterpiece was printed in 1100 different copies and written in 5 different languages. The first four volumes consist of the Old Testament, written in Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and Aramaic. The fifth volume contains the New Testament in Greek and Syriac, with a Latin and Hebrew translation. Plantain’s Biblia Polyglotta was one of the most expensive texts of its time, costing 20 Euros in June 1669. The body of the text and intricate work is what makes it such a valuable piece of literature, especially for the time it was created.
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (1499) by Aldus Manutius is fascinating not solely because of its whimsical atmosphere, but also for how the book experiments with the visual structure of the words themselves. During a time period when printed books were still fairly new, Manutius pushed the boundaries of typography by treating text as more than just a means of communication, but rather a method of interacting with the graphic illustrations within the book. When looking through the “lens” of this time period, it’s interesting to think about how this blending of text and illustrations must have seemed so ahead of its time. Manutius’ creative choices probably influenced modern-day graphic design despite these choices being made so long ago. I find it compelling that during a time period such as the Renaissance, when graphic media dominated, someone such as Manutius was already thinking about how words could visually communicate in the form of graphical illustrations.
I found Erhard Ratdolt’s Poeticon Astronomicon to be an impressive work of early printing due to its blend of typography, scientific thought, and artistic illustration. Published in 1482, it reflects the Renaissance shift from Gothic to Roman type, enhancing both readability and visual appeal. What fascinates me most are the intricate woodcuts, which are among the earliest printed scientific illustrations depicting celestial constellations, alchemical symbols, and mathematical diagrams. These images didn’t just make the content more engaging; they fundamentally changed how knowledge was communicated in print. Ratdolt was ahead of his time, seamlessly integrating text and imagery in a way that anticipated modern scientific publications. His innovations, such as the first printed title page and experiments with multi-color printing, not only set a new standard for book design but also influenced future developments in typography and scientific publishing. It’s incredible to see how early printing could be both highly technical and deeply artistic, bridging science and mysticism in such a captivating way.
The Gutenberg bible resonated the most to me, not just because of the importance it holds in our society, but also because of the sheer amount of patience Gutenberg had to create it. When one refers to the Gutenberg bible they aren't just referring to one book, but a collection of about 180 books. At the time, this was a mass production of printing that had never been seen before. After watching the video linked in the Gutenberg section of this blog, I learned a couple things. One being that Gutenberg was known as an entrepreneur, but money wasn’t the only reason he chose to mass produce the bible. He chose mass production based on the principle of trying to make books, like the bible, more accessible to the public. When one thinks of mass production they think of a lower quality and care in the production, however this was NOT the case with Gutenberg. He still had to figure out a special kind of ink (oil-based) that would work with paper and metal. He had to craft 2,600 individual metal pieces for the printing press. One book made of vellum was equal to 170 calves. Additionally, every Gutenberg bible was different, meaning each individual book had hand made designs. To figure out how to make the printing press work, direct multiple people in the print shop, and create handwritten elements tailored to each bible, Gutenberg had to have an extreme amount of patience. I find it very admirable that he took the time to do this without a clear future of what was to come from it, especially since his business partner in the end took his business from him. Compared to today's society, I feel as if most individuals don’t have the same patience Gutenberg had and I think it’s something we can learn from. Sometimes you have to put in the work and take a leap to have that small chance of revolutionizing the world.
I enjoyed researching The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili as many details from this book stood out to me. The one detail that stood out the most was how on some pages the lines would decrease in size as you went down the page. This style of writing makes the book have a unique style apart from the illustrations and lettering. With the font not exactly standing out, the use of new styles of printing and detailed illustrations helps engage readers. This typographical technique not only adds to the book’s aesthetic appeal but also creates a sense of movement and rhythm in the text. Such innovation was ahead of its time and reflects the Renaissance fascination with art and design. The book’s intricate interplay between text and image mirrors its dreamlike narrative, drawing readers into its surreal and immersive world.
Gutenberg’s bible was a monumental achievement in human history, but it's difficult to understand just how monumental the printer was. Gutenberg made a collection of roughly 180 books, which had a profound effect on the rest of human history. Once a page ‘master type’ was created, it could indefinitely be replicated, by use of an oil-based (rather than water-based) substance. According to Wikipedia, the average human can write around 15-25 (20) words per minute or 1200 words per hour. Gutenberg's bible contained roughly between 600000-800000 words (let's say 700000), thus requiring roughly 583.3 hours to complete a single bible if written by hand. Gutenberg's bible contained roughly 600 pages, and his printing press could roughly print 25 pages per hour. It would take a measly 24 hours to print a single bible, compared to the rough estimate of 583.3 if handwritten. Gutenberg's printing would save about 559 hours, or 23 full days of work, for a singular copy. The printing press could easily make multiple copies of the same page (before they changed the master typeface). Assuming Gutenberg printed multiple copies of the same page to achieve 180 copies, it would still roughly only take 24 hours. It would take 104994 hours, or around 40374 days to match Gutenberg's printer via handwriting (or 11 years). One device saved one man 11 years of work, in only one day. When people say Gutenberg's bible changed the very course of history, that is to say, that his printer could condense a decade's worth of effort into a single day. There is no other way to describe Gutenberg's bible other than monumental.
The Mainz Salter is considered a technological breakthrough in the printing sphere. It was the second major book using movable type (individual stamp-like printing) in the Western world (after the Gutenberg Bible), created in 1457, and was a collection of psalms. Not only was it an early example of printed text, but it also helped set a precedent for future printing techniques. Like the colophon, which is the indication of printing date and author. And color printing, by using engraved metal plates which required a complex plate preparation process for engraving and design. I’m drawn to the Mainz Salter the most because it was one of the first printed books relating to music, and had a unique way of leaving room for user customization. Blank space was left for the writing in of staves and notes. In this way, it was able to accommodate the musical notation of various religions and traditions that existed in medieval and Renaissance times. This was a smart way to omit scribes from the learning curve of printing musical notation next to text in a legible way, and resulted in improved accuracy of music documentation among demographics anyway. Though the Mainz Salter is an old religious book, it may not be realized how influential its printed features were to the way we see printing today. From the colophon, to color printing, tangible music documentation, and more generally, understanding the complications faced by printing tactics in the past.
One thing from last class that really caught my eye was Plantin's Biblia Polyglotta. After doing some brief research on the Royal bible, I started to further understand its importance and significance and just how big of an achievement it was to create something that contains 5 different languages at that high of a quality. As mentioned in class the bible was sponsored by Philip II which is the reason the bible is also referred to as Biblia Regia. By compiling the major biblical texts of the time in their original languages, Plantin's work allowed the scholarly community to compare all the texts from the same book. Another thing i came across while digging deeper into the book and its significance is many regard it as a more academic text when compared to Tyndale's Bible which i found interesting. From what i understand the reasoning behind this is because Tyndale’s bible was a direct translation for “Ordinary Believers” where as Plantin's text was used for academic study.
I particularly enjoyed the work of Geoffroy Tory and his lettres fantastiques. I found them some of the more experimental designs that we looked at. I also enjoyed them because the objects actually fit in as those particular letters, and it would work when reading it. It’s clear that Tory took much inspiration from the world around him in his typography. Not only taking from labor tools, but the human body itself. He seemed to look at lettering in almost a three-dimensional view, having motions you can do with the human body for letters and placing letters on dimensional planes. Tory’s work also helped me to notice the uniqueness and beauty of Roman typeface, just because it is so common today, I rarely notice the design of it. The Idea that accents, the apostrophe, the cedilla, and other punctuation marks coming from a printer is also interesting. These artists were literally creating the rules of the language we use today, and probably had no idea the lasting impact some small marks would have.
The Gutenberg Bible is much more than just a work of art. It marked the beginning of a cultural revolution when it came to accessibility for the greater public. Before (during the period of illuminated manuscripts) texts like the Bible were only to be read by those in the Church or by those who were royal/noble. This was partially due to the sheer amount of time, effort, and money that went into these incredible texts, and partially because this allowed those in power to control the narrative. After all, if the common folk couldn’t read or even have access to such important documents, then how could they ever question what they hear? Martin Luther’s 95 theses being one of the first things mass printed using Gutenberg’s technology is no coincidence. By simplifying the process, Gutenberg’s revolutionary technology would snowball into a whole literary revolution in which the middle class and lower class were able to educate themselves and thus produce their own critical thoughts (thanks to the process being cheaper and with less errors). Truly a key step towards the eventual democratization of knowledge.
Gutenberg’s Bible, printed in the 1450s, was both a revolutionary technological advancement and a work of art. As the first major book printed using movable type, it marked the beginning of mass communication, making literature and religious texts more accessible to a wider audience. Before the printing press, books were copied by hand, a slow and expensive process that limited literacy and the spread of knowledge. Gutenberg’s invention dramatically increased the speed of book production, laying the foundation for the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution by allowing ideas and literature to circulate more freely. Also, Gutenberg's invention was partially why the common script-style for typefaces in Europe changed from Gothic to Roman which was a more legible style.
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