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Hidden Objects of Art

03/26/2025

Sarah Tronkowski

Fore-edge paintings transform already rare books into objects of art. These unique watercolor scenes are painted on the unbound edge of a book and aren't visible until the pages are fanned.

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Incunabula

01/03/2025

Sarah Tronkowski

You get bonus points for using this vocabulary word in your daily life. But what does it mean?

Incunabula is a Latin word that refers to all books printed from the time of Gutenberg's movable type press (around 1455) to the end of 1500. These are the earliest printed books and they're very special to librarians, book collectors, and book historians.

The most important contributions to the printing of incunabula came from Germany and Italy. Religious literature was printed in great quantity during this period. The first printers working in Germany created large volumes that were held in monastic libraries. Italy on the other hand overestimated the demand for Latin classics which resulted in a significant overstock. The first fifty years of book publishing were especially productive but technically inefficient, these books often lacked title pages or pagination. As the market for books grew throughout northern Europe, competition among printers became intense and standard formatting became the norm.

The Arthur A. Houghton Jr. Library holds an excellent reproduction of the Gutenberg Bible as well as examples of type faces used by leading book printers working in the late 1400s. Our collection has two printed books from the Incunabula period along with a number of leaves.

Gutenberg Bible, London, 1611

Cicero, Venice, 1482

According to our records, this copy of Cicero's, Libri III cum commento petro marso is one of only two known copies in the United States. Published in Venice, in 1482, it is in excellent condition with handwritten notes in the margins. The earliest printers were trained in the manuscript tradition, as a result, the first generation of printed books imitated manuscripts by including spaces for illuminations that could be painted after printing. This book is a fine example of that practice.

Resources

“Incunabula.” Encyclopædia Britannica Online, Encyclopædia Britannica Inc, 2020.

Stillo, Stephanie. “Incunabula: The Art & History of Printing in Western Europe, c. 1450-1500.” Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/ghe/cascade/index.html?appid=580edae150234258a49a3eeb58d9121c. Accessed 3 Jan. 2025.

Martin, Dr. John H., “History of the Written Word” (library records)

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Hidden Objects of Art

Fore-edge paintings transform already rare books into objects of art. These unique watercolor scenes are painted on the unbound edge of a book and aren't visible until the pages are fanned....

Shakespeare's Second Folio

What exactly is a Folio? A folio is described as a book that has been printed on large sheets of paper that have been folded to form two pages and is a similar size to an encyclopedia. Smaller books called “quartos” would have paper folded twice to create four pages before being stitched together. Shakespeare’s plays were not formally printed during his lifetime. That’s not to say they weren’t printed at all, just that none of the prints were done with his endorsement, nor with the endorsement of his associates. Plays that were printed were taken from memory by an audience member at a performance. It wasn’t until one or two years after Shakespeare’s death in 1616 that John Heminge and Henry Condell, two players from the King’s Men (Shakespeare’s acting troupe) approached printer William Jaggard to collect and print their friend and colleague’s works into what would become known as Shakespeare’s First Folio. This folio was completed in 1623 and was quite popular in its day. The second folio would be printed nine years later in 1632.Today, first and second folios are considered prized pieces in special collections and collector’s libraries. Scholars consider the second folio to be more accurate than the first, as it includes plays that were previously left out. Shakespeare did not write stage directions, so they are not included in either folio. We are fortunate to have portions of the Second Folio as part of our Special Collection, the History of the Written Word at the Arthur A. Houghton Jr. Library Archives. The plays in our collection are Much Ado About Nothing and Love’s Labor’s Lost contained in one volume and then each other volume containing one play each are The Winter’s Tale, Measure for Measure, two copies of The Merchant of Venice, and The Taming of the Shrew.Since we have two copies of The Merchant of Venice, and that second copy and The Taming of the Shrew are bound in more colorful paper with what appears to be leather on the spines, we can surmise that these volumes were taken from two separate collections. The first four volumes of five plays come from one source and the last two from another. The volumes were likely split up by a previous collector for ease of handling, since all the plays contained in one volume would have been large and difficult to read individually, much in the way a literature anthology can be when not broken down into sets. ResourcesCollins, Paul (2009). The Book of William: how Shakespeare’s First Folio Conquered the World. Bloomsbury USA.Martin, Dr. John H., “History of the Written Word” (library records) ...

Incunabula

You get bonus points for using this vocabulary word in your daily life. But what does it mean? Incunabula is a Latin word that refers to all books printed from the time of Gutenberg's movable type press (around 1455) to the end of 1500. These are the earliest printed books and they're very special to librarians, book collectors, and book historians.The most important contributions to the printing of incunabula came from Germany and Italy. Religious literature was printed in great quantity during this period. The first printers working in Germany created large volumes that were held in monastic libraries. Italy on the other hand overestimated the demand for Latin classics which resulted in a significant overstock. The first fifty years of book publishing were especially productive but technically inefficient, these books often lacked title pages or pagination. As the market for books grew throughout northern Europe, competition among printers became intense and standard formatting became the norm.The Arthur A. Houghton Jr. Library holds an excellent reproduction of the Gutenberg Bible as well as examples of type faces used by leading book printers working in the late 1400s. Our collection has two printed books from the Incunabula period along with a number of leaves.Gutenberg Bible, London, 1611 Cicero, Venice, 1482According to our records, this copy of Cicero's, Libri III cum commento petro marso is one of only two known copies in the United States. Published in Venice, in 1482, it is in excellent condition with handwritten notes in the margins. The earliest printers were trained in the manuscript tradition, as a result, the first generation of printed books imitated manuscripts by including spaces for illuminations that could be painted after printing. This book is a fine example of that practice. Resources“Incunabula.” Encyclopædia Britannica Online, Encyclopædia Britannica Inc, 2020. Stillo, Stephanie. “Incunabula: The Art & History of Printing in Western Europe, c. 1450-1500.” Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/ghe/cascade/index.html?appid=580edae150234258a49a3eeb58d9121c. Accessed 3 Jan. 2025. Martin, Dr. John H., “History of the Written Word” (library records)...

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