Aldis, M.A.
Cambridge: at the University Press 1916
of an octavo volume it was necessary to have recourse to
some other type than the large roman or gothic letter used
for the folios of the library and the cloister; and in 1501 Aldus
had cut for him a small new type the form of which was
based on the cursive hand then current in Italy: the neat
compact letter which we call italic. For his Greek type the
handwriting of his friend Marcus Musurus is said to have
been taken as a model. Neither of these selections was
entirely fortunate. The Greek type, which preserved all the
ligatures and flourishes of the cursive hand, is by no means
easy to read; but the wide influence of the Aldine 'books set
a fashion in Greek letter which lasted nearly three centuries.
The italic letter, though elegant in appearance and extremely
compact, is not nearly so legible as the roman type to which
retained great popularity, especially for small books, throughout the sixteenth century.
Basel had already been a centre of printing for some twenty years when John Froben, who was to become its greatest
printer, published in 1491 as his first book an octavo Bible in small got-hie type. His press is remarkable for the number
and importance of its productions, as well as for excellence of workmanship. In his desire for accuracy Froben
surrounded himself with a number of scholars to whom he deputed the work of editing and correcting. Chief among
these was Erasmus, who, after visiting him on several occasions, in 1521 permanently took up his residence with the
printer and gave fresh impetus to the press. It was from Froben's press that the first published edition of the Greek
New Testament (edited by Erasmus) was issued in 1516. In the same year he issued the works of St Jerome in nine
folio volumes; and when, in 1527, he met with his death by a fall from an upper window, his largest undertaking, the
works of St Augustine in ten folio volumes, was passing through the press.
In Froben's later years his most considerable contemporary in Basel was Adam Petri, who printed many works in the
vernacular and favoured the writings of Luther and the reformers. But more prominent centres of printing in the cause
of the reformers were Geneva, the Calvinist stronghold; Ziirich, where Christopher Froschauer, printer of many English
books, including the first edition of the Bible in English (1535), was busy with Zwinglian literature; and Wittenberg,
where Lutheran tracts came almost daily from the press of Hans Lufft. Later in the century the reputation of Basel as a
centre of printing was upheld by another learned printer, John Oporinus (d. 1568), who, amollg other preparatory
occupations, had for four years acted as assistant to Paracelsus. Oporinus is said to have printed upwards of seven
hundred books, and at one time to have employed more than fifty workmen. It was in his office that John Foxe, of the
Book of Martyrs, was engaged as reader of the press during his sojourn at Basel.
Printers Part 3 >
Printer Book Part 1
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