Printed Pages from European Literature
Notes: A "loose leaf book", issued in a paper clamshell box with original examples of continental European printing, each laid into a paper folder with a brief printed description on the front. An introductory leaf of text by the editor is laid into the box as well. The contents of this set varies somewhat from copy to copy.
The present set includes leaves from:
1) A vellum manuscript breviary with red and blue initials, ca. 15th century (3-3/4 by 5-1/4 inches);
2) In Psalterium Expositio printed by Johann Amerbach, 1491 (with manuscript initials and rubrication);
3) Infortiatum de Tortis printed by Baptista de Tortis in Venice, 1495 (folded folio leaf printed in red and black);
4) Panis Quotidianus printed in Hagenau, 1509 (with manuscript initials and rubrication);
5) A summary for students of Aristotle’s Natural Philosophy printed in Paris by Henry Stephanus (with contemporary annotations, including two manicules);
6) Perottus’s Cornucopia printed from italic type by Aldus Manutius in Venice, 1513;
7) Aeneis Vergiliana printed in Lyon by Jacobus Sacon, 1517;
8) Ovid’s Fasti printed by Alexander Paganini in Tusculanum, Italy, 1527;
9) An edition of Lucian in Greek, printed by Michael Isengrin, Basel, 1545;
10) History of His Own Times by Paulus Jovius, Paris, 1553;
11) Works of Josephus, Basel, 1554;
12) Nicholas Tartalea on Euclid, Venice, 1565;
13) Commentariorum in Ordinationes Regias Castellae, Salamanca, 1574;
14) Geographiae Universae, Cologne, 1597;
15) The Justinian Code, Paris, 1602;
16) Hebrew Pentateuch, Geneva, 1617–18;
17) Miniature Elzevir, Leiden, 1626 (2-1/16 by 4-3/8);
18) Vulgate Bible from the Plantin Press, Antwerp, 1628 (verses 9–21 of Obadiah (Abdiae) and Book I to IV: 3 of Jonah)
19) Coustumes de Touraine, Tours, 1661 (two leaves, one seemingly made from recycled paper);
20) De indiae utriusque, re naturali et medica by William Piso printed by the Elzevirs, 1658 (illustrated with four woodcuts).
The printed label on the top of the clamshell box describes this issue in the Foliophiles series of leaf boxes as, "A portfolio of original leaves taken from rare and notable printed books. Apart from their picturesque qualities and historic interest, these specimens will prove of great value in tracing the evolution of the printed page and the handlettering from which it sprang. Though complete in itself, this portfolio is one of a series covering the world's literature from earliest times to the present day."
The clamshell box measures 10 by 13 inches, with the folders inside just slightly smaller.
Edition + Condition: First edition (first printing). A very good or better set in a nicely preserved box. This is set number 15 of 200.
Publication: New York: Society of Foliophiles, 1925.
Item No: #362939
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