Palatino's: Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere... 1545

Library of Congress Jefferson Bldg.
Library of Congress Jefferson Bldg.

I found my way to the Library of Congress from Chicago after a few adventures on the road, but I'm going to leave those stories for another post.

The Rare Books & Manuscripts division is in the Jefferson Bldg. They have a few nice books there & I got to see more than just two.

However, it was a treat to look at two different copies of the 1545 Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere that they hold. One is the Rosenwald copy and the other is the Fabyan copy.

Palatino's Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere Z43.A3 P3 1545 Fabyan in a Carolingian vellum leaf Rosenwald in an early binding
Palatino's Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivereZ43.A3P31545Fabyan in a Carolingian vellum leafRosenwald in an early binding

The 1545 copy is a reprint from the 1540 publication. I haven't looked at two copies of the same title of any writing manual from the same issue date. At Iowa I'd taken a look at 3 Bickhams from different years and the production variations were evident. I thought it might be fun to see what kind of variations there would be in two books from the same publication date and presumed that they were from different printings of the same year.

Palatino's Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere Z43.A3 P3 1545 Fabyan (top) Rosenwald (bottom)
Palatino's Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivereZ43.A3P31545Fabyan (top)Rosenwald (bottom)

The Rosenwald copy isn't trimmed as tight as the Fabyan. There are more generous margins on the Rosenwald book.

The paper looked the same as I started to go through it and the printing was comparable in terms of coverage. Inking on the reverse blocks varies but that's to be expected.

Palatino Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere Z43.A3 P3 1545 Fabyan (top) Rosenwald (bottom)
PalatinoLibro nuovo d’imparare a scrivereZ43.A3P31545Fabyan (top)Rosenwald (bottom)

I kept looking for a variation in block formatting or change in something as I went through the books.

Palatino Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere Z43.A3 P3 1545 Fabyan (top) Rosenwald (bottom)
PalatinoLibro nuovo d’imparare a scrivereZ43.A3P31545Fabyan (top)Rosenwald (bottom)

The imposition of blocks was the same throughout the books. As I was going through them, I noticed a variation in the signature marks at Cii - not surprising if they were printed at different times.

Palatino Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere Z43.A3 P3 1545 Fabyan
PalatinoLibro nuovo d’imparare a scrivereZ43.A3P31545Fabyan
Palatino Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere Z43.A3 P3 1545 Rosenwald
PalatinoLibro nuovo d’imparare a scrivereZ43.A3P31545Rosenwald

When I went through the books a second time, I got a little excited because I hadn't seen any other variation i the printing order or blocks. The rest of the letterpress was all the same.

Palatino Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere Z43.A3 P3 1545 Fabyan (top) Rosenwald (bottom)
PalatinoLibro nuovo d’imparare a scrivereZ43.A3P31545Fabyan (top)Rosenwald (bottom)

Then I went through them again and looked at how the blocks lined up and looked for obvious variations in the show-through and found so much similarity in impression and inking and paper that I suspect they were printed in the same press run.

Palatino Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere Z43.A3 P3 1545 Fabyan (top) Rosenwald (bottom)
PalatinoLibro nuovo d’imparare a scrivereZ43.A3P31545Fabyan (top)Rosenwald (bottom)

The Fabyan copy has an owner's practice on the verso of the last page.

Palatino Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere Z43.A3 P3 1545 Fabyan (top) Rosenwald (bottom)
PalatinoLibro nuovo d’imparare a scrivereZ43.A3P31545Fabyan (top)Rosenwald (bottom)
Practice lettering Palatino Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere Z43.A3 P3 1545 Fabyan
Practice letteringPalatinoLibro nuovo d’imparare a scrivereZ43.A3P31545Fabyan

I mentioned this possibility to Mark Dimunation and he seemed interested. When I return, I'll gather more information and see if my theory holds up to greater scrutiny.

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