THE PRINCE OF PRINTERS

AND THE ALDINE PRESS !!

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His name was Aldus Pius Manutius....which, I confess, sounds more like the name given by a botanist to some exotic wildflower...... or a physician describing a disease of the circulatory system.

No! Aldus Pius Manutius was a printer... for that matter, “the greatest printer of the 16^th. century!” ( Steinberg. p.57) Another historian speaks of him as “the Prince of Printers..... a scholar, businessman, editor and typographer.”( Getty.)

His name, incidentally, is pronounced ‘Muny-OO-shus’ according to the Columbia Encyclopaedia.

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As to his birthplace my sources differ. One writer assures me that it was in “Sermoneta, near Rome, in 1450” whilst another is equally convinced that young Aldus first saw light of day in Asolo...in 1451. A third reference book points to Bassano .... whilst a fourth is adamant that he “was born in Romanga in 1449 ”. . ( Catholic Encyclopaedia ; S.F.U. ; Concise Biography . p.40 ; Cassells .Vol2.p. 592) At which stage I leave it for the reader to determine!

But it is true that it was “near Rome” in what was then known as the Papal States. Fifteenth century Italy was divided into various areas... there was the Republic of Genoa and the Duchy of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples ...about a dozen of them. And in the midst of all these was ‘The Papal States’ ruled over by the Pope of Rome. Even today the Papal State of the Vatican still exists with its own coinage and postal system and ambassador ...all quite separate from the rest of Italy.

Suffice to say Aldus was born somewhere in the Papal States about the middle of the Fifteenth century!

UNIVERSITY DAYS....

At the age of 15 we find him studying the classics at the University of Rome. Famous authors of the ancient world like Cicero and Sophocles and Donatus and a host of others with unpronounceable names ....men whose writings had been laboriously copied by hand over the centuries and whose works were to be found on the reading desks of numerous Universities ....... these became his constant companions. And there were some printed works..... for it was but a decade since Gutenberg had revolutionised the world with his invention of movable type. Since that time numerous printers had sprung up across Germany churning out volumes of a mainly religious nature.

Six years later Aldus is continuing his studies in the University of Ferrara, studying Greek and imbibing the humanistic teaching of his mentor.

Perhaps we should pause to explain ‘humanism’ for Aldus Pius Manutius is destined to be a leading propagator of this teaching when he applies himself to the art of printing. Humanism was a “a movement dedicated to placing classical culture at the centre of education, ethics and public life.” ( SFU) And thanks to Aldus Pius...... or alas, because of Aldus Pius.....( depending upon ones view of these things !) “the humanist curriculum of Greek and Latin classics would dominate European education until the 20^th. century.” ( SFU) Perhaps we could add that the man-centred philosophy contained therein continues to do so ........

THE ALDINE PRESS.

For some time Aldus Pius became private tutor to the children of a certain Duke....whose name would only bog the reader down with uninteresting detail.... and then, at the age of 37 he moves to Venice. Now it is he embarks upon what one writer describes as “the rough and tumble world of printing and publishing.” After all, in those days the printer was the publisher !

He entered into partnership with a certain Andrea Torresano, who had already set up a print shop . Aldus Pius became consultant as to what should be printed, marketing manager and maker of editorial decisions. This latter task involved more than meets the eye. Some earlier copyists had been responsible for errors and even deliberate additions to those manuscripts now being considered worthy of printing. It is because of the scholarship of Aldus Manutius one is indebted for the accuracy of that which came to the printed page. Carefully he would scan a variety of copies, seeking out if possible even the original works, that he might ascertain the writer’s own words.

In the midst of this busy life he found time to woo and wed, Maria, his partner’s daughter. It was 1505. Or was it 1499 or 1500 as another informs me ?

Soon the Aldine Press, as it was known, was full steam ahead with Aldus at the helm.

Between 1494 and 1515 he produced 134 volumes:- 68 in Latin, 58 in Greek and 8 in Italian.. Here were the Works of Euripides and the Histories of Herodotus; the speeches of Demosthenes and the Philosophy of Aristotle. To mention but a few!

It was the first time books had been printed in the Greek language for which he had overseen the cutting of a special type.

REVOLUTIONARY IMPROVEMENTS !

Before long the Aldine Press was famous throughout Europe. The reasons for this were many.

There was, for example, the ‘type’ he used. Previous to this most printers used ‘Gothic’. There had also been a certain Frenchman, Nicolas Jenson, who had carried out a bit of “industrial espionage” ( Steinberg p. 33) for his King and become the first non-German printer. He it was who invented ‘Roman’ type. But both Gothic and Roman were heavy and dark.

Worse still, they occupied too much space on the page for Aldus Pius’ liking. So he, or at least one of his workmen named Francesco Griffo, designed ‘italics’.

Here we go again !! Some say this new type was based on the script of Petrarch, a famous Italian poet of the previous century ; but others just as emphatically deny that such was the case !! ( Five Centuries: p. 65; Columbia ; Binns. p. 82)

In any case this new type was friendlier to the eye of the reader ...and it conserved space! More reading matter on the one page! The economics of printing was never far from the mind of this business-like printer.

A MATTER OF SIZE .

Nor was that all.

Our pioneer Printer/Publisher wanted to reach a wider market than Universities that only were financial enough to afford the cumbersome tomes , and which would only be poured over by the scholars of the day. The pages of these massive volumes were ‘folio’ size. But fold the ‘folio’ into four and you get ‘quarto’ which is much more portable. And fold it eight times and you get ‘octavo’ ...something like the size of a Readers Digest ! One could almost suggest that Aldus Pius became the Great-great grandfather of the modern paper-back.

Printing 2000 copies at a time, ( when other printers only dared to issue 100 or up to 500 copies if they were daring enough to do so,) helped our print-shop pioneer gain an economic advantage. Classical writers, both Greek and Roman, issued in this innovative format without the unnecessary commentary that increased the size and the cost and which appealed only to the denizens of the Universities, now found a ready market. Likewise the penmanship of more recent writers like Dante and Petrarch and Erasmus.

The “ Adages of Erasmus,” published by the Aldine Press in 1500 ...a collection of proverbial sayings , made him the world’s first best-selling author ! Such familiar sayings as ‘one swallow doesn’t make a summer’, and ‘to call a spade a spade’, and ‘there’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip’ are but a few that found their origin in this Dutch-born writer’s collection.

Further reasons might be cited for the success of this Venetian print shop. Competent workers were employed in every facet of the production. Proof readers would scan the pages with an eagle eye. Expert goldsmiths were hired to make intricate moulds. Men of impeccable craftsmanship would make wood-cuts to decorate the pages with appropriate illustrations. Some printers were known to use the same woodcut of a famous person in their various publications ... with different names underneath !! But not the Aldine Press ! Nor was any expense spared in procuring the best manuscripts “which Aldus Manutius edited and corrected personally.” ( Bereson. P. 65) As the Aldine Press continued to dominate the world of printing it became synonymous “with elegance and accuracy.” ( Binns p. 82)

THE DOLPHIN & THE ANCHOR

Sure enough, the imitators and even forgers began to assert themselves.

Aldus designed a ‘printer’s device’ to appear on the Title Page of his publications. Those of a technical mind refer to it as a colophon. It was an artistic representation of a dolphin entwined around an anchor! Plus the Latin phrase, “Festina lente”.

According to one biographer, Aldus had copied it from a coin issued by the Roman Emperor , Titus, where it was a nautical symbol. ( Bainton. P. 106) But another suggests that it came from a saying of the Emperor Augustus . ( SFU) ... whilst another comes up with the explanation that it originated from an early Christian seal ; the fish being a representation of Christ and the anchor ... a cross ! ( Bainton. P. 109)

Whatever the origin, it has been described as “the most famous of all printers’ marks ever designed!” (SFU) ( Steinberg .p. 96) The dolphin was a symbol of speed reminding the reader that there was no room for laziness among his workers. He is even on record as saying that he was so busy “with both hands occupied and surrounded by the pressmen who are clamorous for work, there is scarcely even time to blow my nose.” ( SFU)

But the anchor spoke of retardation or slowness. As the afore-mentioned Latin inscription translates...”Make haste slowly!” For in all the flurry of activity there was still the carefulness that guarded against loss of accuracy or quality. .

IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME!

In 1500 Aldus had even founded the New Academy, a meeting place in his home . Just over thirty members “ate together, slept together and spoke together in Greek on pain of a fine for a lapse into the vernacular!” ( Bainton. ) There they studied their beloved Greek writers and discussed , “sometimes until the cock crowed,” the humanistic philosophy therein.

The fine, incidentally, was used to throw a party.....which may have encouraged some to deliberately slip in a “Mama Mia !”

One of those who attended was Erasmus. Later he would achieve notoriety by attacking the morals of many priests and other hierarchy in the Catholic Church: the church of which he himself was a member. He also left on record that the kidney stone which plagued him in later years was due to the poor food and “the vile beverage” of which he partook whilst living at the New Academy ! ( Bainton p. 103-104. )

DAYS OF INSTABILITY.

Aldus Pius Manutius died in 1514 .... according to one Encyclopaedia he was murdered ! ( Concise Biog. p. 49) At his funeral “the humanists surrounded his coffin with the books he had so lovingly chosen to print.” ( Manguel. P. 138)

The Aldine Press passed into the hands of his uncles and gradually lost its pre-eminent place. The Works of Aeschylus, for example, printed in 1518, is described as “one of the worst things ever to come off the Venetian Press”. Pages are not only missing but the reader “is thrown into a completely different play with no warning.” ( BYU)

In 1533, however, Paulus Manutius took over his father’s printing works and to some extent the reputation of the Aldine Press was restored. By 1561 the Protestant Reformation was splitting Europe into warring camps and Pope Pius IV enlisted Paulus to oversee the Vaticana press. The Protestant cause, since its inception about half a century before, had long monopolised the world of literary propaganda.

But Paulus “lacked the business acumen of his father.” Little impact was made upon the contrary teachings then pervading Europe.

Another twenty years would pass before Aldus the Younger , son of Paulus, inherited the Aldine Press and sought to carry on the fine tradition his grand-father had established. To no avail. However, in 1590 he was appointed official printer to Pope Sixtus V.... and the Aldine Press closed its doors.

The first-fruits of the Vatican Press was a Latin Bible ... which leads to one of the most awful ( or amusing ?) stories in the history of printing.

Pope Sixtus “carefully superintended each sheet as it passed through the press” .... and wrote in the Foreword that any who reprinted this volume were not to make any alteration under pain of excommunication. However, “to the amazement of the world, the work remained without a rival – it swarmed with errata. A multitude of scraps were printed to paste over the erroneous passages in order to give the true text. The book makes a whimsical appearance with these patches ...... Copies were called in and violent attempts made to suppress it... a few still remain for the raptures of Biblical collectors.” ( D’ Israeli.. p. 30. ) ( Steinberg. P. 162)

Altogether 908 publications had been issued by the Manutii family. Many of them can still be viewed ...rare specimens of master craftsmen .... at Simon Fraser University and Brigham Young University, both in America. The latter University has over 500 Aldine Press titles in its collection and some of the forgeries. A display of these literary treasures can be viewed on the Internet.

HATS OFF TO ALDUS !!

Gutenberg had created a product that made the printed word accessible to churches and Universities. But Aldus Manutius placed books in the hands of the common people.

For the first time in history hundreds of readers possessed identical copies of the same volume. ( A. Manguel p. 138)

But it was not just the availability of the printed word that captures the admiration of today’s scholars but the fact that Aldus Manutius, the Elder, produced “some of the most beautiful volumes in the history of printing.”

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Binns. N.R. An Introduction to Historical Bibliography. Association of Assistant Librarians. London. 1962.

Steinberg. S.H. Five Hundred Years of Printing . Faber & Faber. 1959.

Manguel A. A History of Reading. Flamingo Pub. 1997.

Bainton. R. Erasmus of Christendom. Collins Pub. 1970.

D’ Israeli I. Curiosities of Literature. Routledge & Son. One Volume Edition. Undated.

Concise Universal Biography. 2 Volumes. Educational Book Co. undated!

Chambers Biographical Dictionary. W& R Chambers 1897.

Bereson I. Five Centuries of Change. Heinemann Educational Aust. 1982.

Cassell’s Romance of Famous Lives . Cassell & Co. 2 Vol.

The following sources are available on the Internet and were also consulted whilst researching this article.:-

Columbia Encylopaedia. 5^th. Edition 1993.

The Catholic Encyclopaedia . 1910

Getty .... J. Paul Getty Museum.

H

BYU ......Brigham Young University

SFU ........Simon Fraser University .

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