Research Guides: HIST 111: Ruin and Renewal: Europe to 1500 (HC): Introduction

Exploring Early Printed Books

On Tuesday, November 15, class will meet for hands-on experience with early printed books. The titles listed below will be available for you to examine with the assistance of librarians. We'll go over any special handling required of these materials, and you can explore the rich selection at your own pace.

To start things off, there will be brief presentations about the ways medieval manuscripts and early printed books were produced and used.

Then in small groups you will closely examine one of the books and answer questions concerning its history and structure, the transmission of texts, types of readers and categories of literature. Please ask questions as you work closely with the original resources and supporting secondary literature.

Early Printed Books for Analysis

Celestina: Tragicomedia de Calisto & Melibea novamente tradocta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma.
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The late medieval tale by Fernando de Rojas takes a cynical view of courtly love. The story of the young aristocratic lovers is complicated by the interventions of the old prostitute Celestina. This edition is an Italian translation, published in 1519.
De divina praedestinatione
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On Divine Predestination attributed to Petrus de Ilperinis Romanus. Printed in Speyer ca. 1489 by Johann and Conrad Hist. David Wertheimer, Class of 1977, Collection of Early Printed Books (Quaker & Special Collections, Haverford College)
Iunii Iuuenalis aquinatis satyra prima
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Venetiis : In aedibus Aldi, 1501.
This book contains 16 satires of Juvenal and 6 of Persius. It is the first edition of Juvenal published by Aldus Manutius, the famous Venetian printer known for inventing italic type, popularizing small-format books, and producing the first printed (rather than manuscript) editions of many Greek and Roman authors. We have a second copy of this text in a very decorative binding from the early modern period (B H S)
M.T. Ciceronis Epistolarum familiarium ad P. Lentulum liber primus.
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Cicero's letters with the commentary of Hubertinus, clericus, Crescentinas. Printed in 1480 in Venice by the Printer of the 1480 Martialis. David Wertheimer, Class of 1977, Collection of Early Printed Books (Quaker & Special Collections, Haverford College)

Questions for early book analysis
See this file for links to author information.

		Margaret Schaus Haverford College Contact