Venice · 1496 · Aldus Manutius

De Aetna

Pietro Bembo

De Aetna
Dialogue opening with spaced majuscules
Folio 3r (leaf 00009): the dialogue opens with the "BEMBVS PATER" speaker heading, pairing Griffo's calm roman lower-case with elegantly spaced capitals.
Description of Aetna
Folio 13r (leaf 00029): a full page of running text describing the mountain ("Ipsa Aetna radices suas..."), showing the unprecedented evenness of the type's grey.
Aldine colophon
Folio 30v (leaf 00064): the colophon "IMPRESSVM VENETIIS IN AEDIBVS ALDI ROMANI MENSE FEBRVARIO ANNO M.VD." — the Aldine imprint dated February 1495/96.
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In this slim quarto Francesco Griffo cut for Aldus a calm, open roman of unprecedented evenness and grace — the first appearance of the letterforms later distilled into Garamond and Morison's Bembo. Its serene page is widely held to be the most influential single type design in printing history. The imprint reads "Feb. 1495/96" in Venetian style, i.e. 1496 modern.

Details

Title
De Aetna
Author
Pietro Bembo
Printer
Aldus Manutius
Place
Venice
Year
1496
Format
4°
Language
Latin
Theme
typography

Facsimiles

BSB ↗

Images

Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, 4 Inc.c.a. 1180 — Public Domain Mark 1.0

References

ISTC ib00304000