Saturday, September 11, 2010

Erhard Ratdolt’s 1486 type specimen

Patrick Cramsie is correct and I was wrong. The first known type specimen sheet, dated April 1486, was issued by Erhard Ratdolt at Augsburg (Germany). Only one copy survives. See Annals of Printing: A Chronological Encyclopedia by W. Turner Berry and H. Edmund Poole (London: Blandford Press, 1966), p. 56 which reproduces the sheet. It shows a decorated initial A in the white-vine style common in Paduan and Florentine manuscripts of the time, ten sizes of rotunda faces, three sizes of roman, and one of greek. The colophon reads:

Indicis characterum diversarum manerierum impressioni paratarum: Finis.

Erhardi Ratdolt Augustensis viri solertissinu: preclaro ingenio et mirifica arte: qua olim Venetiis excelluit celebratissimus. In imperiali nunc urbe Auguste vindelicorum laudatissime impressioni dedit. Anno quam salutis. M. CCCC. LXXXVI. Calendarium. Aprilis Sidere felici compleuit.

[I hope I have correctly written out the abbreviated Latin words.]

1 comment:

SERVUS said...

viri solertissinu > viri solertissimu
imho
sergio