Aldis, M.A.
Cambridge: at the University Press 1916
printer to print only the bare text; just that part of the book
which, in a manuscript, would be written by the scribe or
calligrapher. Blank spaces were left for headlines, initial
letters, and other ornamental details which, as in the case of
manuscripts, were afterwards added by the rubricator and
the illuminator. The circumstance that these decorative
features were executed by the same method contributes to
the similarity of appearance presented by tlie manuscript and
the printed book.
This finishing adornment of a book might be more or less
elaborate, from simple red or blue capitals to finely
illuminated borders and historiated initials in gold and colors.
Like the binding of the volume, it was no doubt generally
adjusted to suit the taste and purse of the purchaser; but
state in which they left the press. In these cases it will sometimes be noticed that the irlltial letter to be inserted is
indicated by a small letter, called a director, printed in the blank space as a guide to the illuminator. A few printers
attempted to dispense with the aid of the rubrisher by printing the capitals and head-lines in red. This was a
troublesome and not always successful process; but the very first dated book, Fust and Schoeffer's Psalter of 1457,
contains some large and beautiful ornamental irlltial letters printed in red and blue, which are remarkable for the
technical skill displayed in their production at this early stage in the art.
The practice of leaving blank spaces for the large capitals to be filled in by hand continued in vogue in some degree
throughout the fifteenth century, more particularly in Italy. But the progressive printer was not slow to perceive the
advantage of sending out a book complete from the press, and the use of woodcut ornamental initial letters printed in
black along with the text soon became general. Borders and other decorative pieces, in imitation of the ornament of
manuscripts were also brought into use, in many cases with excellent effect. Some of these borders and initials, such
as the outline letters found in books printed by Anton Sorg at Augsburg, were obviously intended to be painted over
by the illuminator, the skeleton design rendering his part of the work more expeditious.
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