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For the first time, IR reflectography was used for analysing the production technique of incunabula, unveiling impressive results concerning the identification of underprintings and the relation with its coloured illuminated representations. In this work, the procedures followed for producing a late-fifteenth-early-sixteenth century incunabulum produced in the Parisian workshop of Germain Hardouyn held by the Biblioteca Publica de Evora (Inc.438) were characterized by IR reflectography. Unexpected features concerning the creative process of the hand-coloured procedures were achieved, reflecting an illuminator strongly influenced by the devotions that were in fashion at the time, unlike the engraving plates used on the incunabulum, whose representations faithfully followed the references of the Holy Scriptures. For the evaluation of the originality of the painted surfaces, a representative painted illustration — the Adoration of the Magi, f.11 — was full characterized using a microscopic and spectroscopic approach (OM, SEM-EDS, Raman microscopy, μ-FTIR). Three representative coloured-paints (white, blue and gilding) of the painted illustrations from the Adoration of the Magi (f.11), the Pieta (f.47v) and the Pentecost (f.65v) were characterized and compared to infer on the contemporaneity of these painted illustrations.

The knot-tack is a technique for sewing books on double supports which features a prominent knot settled over the centre of split-strap sewing supports. This method can be found in archive and libr...

The article, in order to investigate the pioneering achievements of John Rastell’s printing of interludes, first studies some features of page layout in the manuscripts of morality plays so as to foreground the innovations introduced by Rastell when he started printing plays, perhaps merging the tradition of vernacular play manuscripts with that of Continental early printed play books. To this purpose some incunabula of Terence’s plays are dealt with in detail. It also stresses the role of Rastell’s cultural interests within Thomas More’s humanistic circle, trying to link them to his apparently marginal print of playbooks. The results aim at clarifying at least some aspects of the early modern English ‘theatre of the book’, and at following the process that brought Rastell to define a durable page layout for playbooks.

Nojus Feigelmanas – bibliografas, bibliotekininkas, daug nuveikęs Lietuvos kultūros istorijai. Tikslinga ir nuosekli su knyga susijusi viso gyvenimo veikla pelnė jam knygotyrininko statusą. Jis gimė Panevėžyje 1918 m. vasario 8 d., 1931–1936 m. mokėsi privačioje Panevėžio žydų gimnazijoje, 1936–1940 m. studijavo geodeziją Vytauto Didžiojo universitete, bet jo baigti nespėjo: prasidėjus Antrajam pasauliniam karui buvo pašauktas į kariuomenę. 1959 m. neakivaizdžiai baigė Vilniaus universiteto Istorijos ir filologijos fakultetą. 1950–1990 m. dirbo Vilniaus universiteto bibliotekoje: pradėjęs bibliografu, daugiau kaip tris dešimtmečius vadovavo Retų spaudinių skyriui. Mirė 2002 m. rugsėjo 7 d. Aškelono mieste Izraelyje, į kurį persikėlė 1990 m. Lietuvos knygotyros raidai itin reikšmingi N. Feigelmano sudaryti spausdintiniai katalogai: „Senoji lietuviška knyga Vilniaus universitete“ (1959), „Lietuvos inkunabulai“ (1975), „Vilniaus universiteto bibliotekos paleotipai“ (2003, paskelbta po mirties, parengta bendraautorių). Jis taip pat yra publikavęs tris dešimtis mokslinių straipsnių, rengęs mokslines parodas, kultūrines laidas televizijoje. Straipsnyje, remiantis naujais archyviniais šaltiniais, atskleidžiamas N. Feigelmano kelias knygotyros link, jo veiklos svarba Lietuvos knygotyros raidai, išskiriami esminiai asmenybės formavimuisi įtakos turėję veiksniai, bibliotekininko profesijos pasirinkimas, atvedęs į knygotyrą, tiriami N. Feigelmano sudaryti katalogai, jo parašyti straipsniai. Daroma išvada, kad nuo pradinėje mokykloje skaitytos Toros, gimnazijoje vykusių knygų parodų ir mugių, mokslinės Vytauto Didžiojo universiteto bibliotekos ir karinių bibliotekėlių iki pat darbo mokslinėje Vilniaus universiteto bibliotekoje ir net emigravus į Izraelį – visą ilgą gyvenimo kelią N. Feigelmaną lydėjo knyga. Nojus Feigelmanas is a bibliographer and a librarian known for his significant contribution to the history of Lithuanian culture. Consistent and targeted book-related activities pursued by Feigelmanas throughout his life-span have earned him the status of a bookscientist. He was born in Panevėžys on 8 February, 1918. During the period of 1931-1936 he studied in the private Panevėžys Jewish Gymnasium. In 1936-1940 he studied geodesy at Vytautas Magnus University, but failed to complete his studies as he was called up to the army when World War II was launched. In 1959, N. Feigelmanas graduated the Faculty of History and Philology at Vilnius University. In 1950-1990, he worked at the Vilnius University Library: having started career as a bibliographer, he became Head of the Rare Print Department and retained this position for more than three decades. Later in life, in 1990, he moved to Israel and died there on 7 September, 2002, in the city of Ashkelon. The printed catalogues compiled by N. Feigelman are as follows: “The Old Lithuanian Book at Vilnius University” (1959), “The Incunabula of Lithuania” (1975), “The paleotypes of Vilnius University Library” (2003, posthumously, co-authored). He has also published three dozen scientific articles, organized scientific exhibitions, cultural programs on television, etc. The article aims at disclosing N. Feigelmanas’s path toward book science and his contribution to the development of Lithuanian book science. It also identifies the key factors that have shaped his personality, the choice of the librarian’s profession which ignited his interest in book study, and analyses the directories compiled by N. Feigelmanas and the scientific articles. The conclusion has been drawn that during his long life, from the very young days, when he first read Torah at school, visited book fairs and exhibitions as a gymnasium student, throughout his career at the scientific Vytautas Magnus University Library and small military libraries, to the end of his life, even after he emigrated to Israel – the book remained his lifelong companion.

Se estudia el incunable Hore intemerate secundum usum romanum existente en la biblioteca del ducado de Pastrana, desconocido hasta ahora, obra de los impresores parisinos Thielman Kerver y George Wolf. Con este ejemplar se eleva a ocho el número de copias conservadas de la edición del 26 de abril de 1499, de bella factura en vitela, ricamente miniado e ilustrado con numerosos grabados, que constituyen un amplio programa iconográfico de devoción cristiana, analizado ahora en detalle. Se incluyen fotografías del incunable. This study covers the incunabulum Hore intemerate secundum usum romanum, that belongs to the library of the Duchy of Pastrana, unknown until now. The work was produced by the Parisian printers Thielman Kerver and George Wolf. This issue brings to eight the number of copies preserved of the 26th of April 1499 edition. This study analyses in detail the incunabulum, which is beautifully produced on vellum parchment, richly illuminated with miniatures and illustrated with numerous engravings, which constitute a comprehensive iconographic program of Christian devotion. Photographs of the incunabulum are included.

This contribution discusses the hitherto overlooked ownership of the earliest printed books (incunabula) by Netherlandish female religious communities of tertiaries and canonesses regular connected to the religious reform movement of the Devotio moderna. Studies of book ownership and book collections in these communities have tended to focus on manuscripts. From the last decades of the fifteenth century onwards, however, these religious women increasingly came in contact with printed books, even though the involvement of the Devotio moderna with the printing press was limited. The discussion focuses on the channels via which tertiaries and canonesses acquired books produced by commercially operating printers, the ways in which incunabula affected what these (semi-)religious women read, as well as the ratio between printed books in Latin and the vernacular, and their function(s) within these communities. Thus the essay intends to sketch a preliminary image of the role of incunabula in female convents, and advocates a more inclusive approach of female religious book ownership.

The article looks at the origins of the editio princeps of Dante’s Commedia printed in Foligno by Johan Neumeister in 1472. Following an overview of the socio-economic and cultural ambience of Foligno in the fifteenth century, the analysis looks in detail at the influence which the town’s annual fair on the feast of the Annunciation had on the production of this first edition of Dante’s work. The article proposes a new date for the edition and reconstructs its early distribution routes.

Se compara el texto de las coplas Diversas virtudes y vicios de Fernán Pérez de Guzmán en el incunable 86*RL (Cancionero de Ramón de Llavia) con la tradición manuscrita, con el fin de comprobar el grado de intervención del impresor sobre el texto. A comparison is made between the text of the coplas Diversas virtudes y vicios by Fernán Pérez de Guzmán as they appear in incunabulum 86*RL (Cancionero de Ramón de Llavia), and the rest of the handwritten tradition. The aim is to check how much the printer intervened on the text.

The University of Southern California (USC) Libraries’ collection of Illuminated Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, Incunabula, and Rare Books includes 16 unique and invaluable illuminated medieval manuscripts, as well as 12 other medieval manuscripts (with pen-flourished initials or borders) originating in Europe. A substantial number of those manuscripts and rare books were acquired in the early to mid-20th century by Ralph Tyler Flewelling who joined USC in fall 1917. He became the first director of the School of Philosophy when it was established in 1929 with the completion of the Seeley Wintersmith Mudd Memorial Hall of Philosophy building. That growing collection of books, known as the James Harmon Hoose Library of Philosophy Collection, was cataloged according to the Dewey Decimal Classification. Hoose was the first head of the Philosophy Department, originally housed in the university’s administration building. In the latter part of the 20th century, this rare collection was relocated to the Special Collections Department in the Doheny Memorial Library.

Straipsnyje pateikiama Vilniaus universiteto bibliotekos inkunabulų kolekcijoje (340 pavadinimų, 218 fizinių vnt.) saugomų egzempliorių viršelių, teksto puošimo, proveniencinių ženklų (protoekslibrisų) ir marginalijų (skaitymo ženklų, grafičių ir nuorodinių rankyčių) analizė. Visi šie kiekvienam inkunabului individualūs požymiai yra aptariami ir priskiriami tam tikram laikotarpiui, remiantis tuo metu vyravusiomis viršelio puošimo, inicialų piešimo, proveniencinių ir skaitymo ženklų tendencijomis arba datomis, kurios nustatytos iš įrašų knygoje arba identifikavus buvusių inkunabulų savininkų gyvenimo ar veiklos metus. The research comprises a study and registry of the decor details, provenances and reading marks involving 340 names taken from the 218 copies of the Vilnius University Library incunabula spanning over several epochs. The research has shown that each time period had its own characteristic ways of adapting the books to the convenience of their owners, which includes their decoration, repair, provenancing and reading mark-making. The covers of the late Baroque or the Age of Enlightenment feature 15th–16th century corner pieces, book clasps or fragments of leather cover or spine. The damaged or outmoded 15th-16th century original covers were sometimes replaced with covers from the later epochs. From the end of the 18th century to the begining of the 20th century the original book covers were often replaced with he covers scavenged from other books, or adorned with the elements made of new materials thus bearing the traits, typical of that period. These alterations were made primarily for the decorative purposes. Only a few incunabula in the Vilnius University Library bound in luxurious covers in the 15th–16th centuries have survived. They usually lack corner and central pieces, parts of the book clasps, or these parts are found later on the book covers from later periods. The leather parts of the old covers would later get repaired with patches of leather or parchment from other centuries. In the cases of covers damage, the incunabula would be rebound into the book coverings of that time. In the 15th–16th centuries, in the places where the printed initials were lacking, beautiful and colourful initials were drawn as substitutes. They were later replaced with simple, inked letters. The most splendid initials were drawn in the 15th–16th centuries. In the Baroque era, it was popular to decorate previously painted initials with ornaments typical of that period, or to fill the empty initial letter spaces with black or red ink letters decorated with geometric ornaments. In the 18th–19th centuries, the owners would write the simple initials in black or brown ink, later with pencil. In the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, provenance signs – proto-exlibris – were not as splendid as those drawn in Western Europe, but remained longer and were drawn in books until the end of the 16th century. Pointing hands from the 15th–16th centuries stand out for their elegance and typically red ink. During the later centuries they were simplified, while in more recent times – they were completely replaced with the reference “NB” (“Nota bene”). The Renaissance ‘reference hands‘ with a long index finger, were popular in Europe until the end of the 15th century. In our region they remained longer and were painted until the begining of the 17th century. In the incunabula of Vilnius University library, the graffitis can be divided into three types: hand-drawn decorative ornaments, drawings illustrating certain passages in the text, and drawings unrelated to the book which may be described as ‘nib tests‘.

This contribution aims to exemplify through a case study focused on Germany, how the late fifteenth-century availability of printed classical texts, whether for teachers or for students, facilitated an internationalisation of local textual traditions, sometimes with cultural tensions as a result. Printed books were commodities which modified both ways of engaging with texts and ways of producing manuscript texts. At the same time, pre-existing ways of making and using books formed the expectations of customers which producers of printed books sought to meet or, in a world of international commercial competition, even to exceed, by introducing innovative features which matched the evolving needs of potential buyers. We find a complex interplay of intellectual demands for change, institutionally established user expectations and the need for printers and publishers to create economically viable commodities, where printed books shaped a preexisting and continued manuscript based literary culture., Interfaces: A Journal of Medieval European Literatures, N. 7 (2020): Open Issue

This paper analyses the iconographic programme of the first Decameron translations into French, written, copied or published between 1411 and ca. 1500 (12 illuminated manuscripts of Laurent de Premierfait’s Cent nouvelles and two illustrated editions printed for Antoine Verard between 1485 and 1500). It focuses on the structural transformations put forward by the illustrators from one version to another and it also shows how the balance between the frame narrative and the novellas themselves is reinvented in each specific version. The comparison between the manuscript tradition and the two incunabula aims at shedding fresh light, in particular, on Verard’s Decameron adaptation and shows how the cornice becomes a striking feature in the visual identity of the French Cent nouvelles.

En 1492 se imprimió en el taller de Pablo Hurus un conjunto de obras poéticas devocionales, que contaban también, muchas de ellas, con difusión manuscrita e impresa independiente. Tres años después (1495) se preparó en el mismo taller una nueva edición a plana y renglón de la anterior. Al éxito de la obra contribuirían, sin duda, los 60 (59) grabados que no habían sido objeto de estudio detenido debido a los avatares sufridos por los ejemplares. En el artículo se estudian las estampas, se analiza su función, sus posibles modelos y su reutilización., In 1492 was printed in Pablo Hurus’ workshop a collection of devotional poetry, many of which were also distributed by hand and printed independently. Three years later (1495) a new edition was prepared in the same workshop. The 60 (59) engravings that, until now, had not been studied in detail due to the ups and downs suffered by the copies, undoubtedly contributed to the success of the work. The article studies the woodcuts, analyzes their function, their possible models and their reuse.

Senj i Senjska biskupija imaju dugu i bogatu povijest koja seže još u antičko doba. Smatra se kako je Senjska katedrala sagrađena na temeljima ranokršćanske bazilike i po svojoj gradnji je drugačija i posebna. Najplodonosnije razdoblje je zasigurno Frankapansko i Korvinovo, predtursko i preduskočko razdoblje kada u Senju djeluju skriptoriji u kojima se prepisuju knjige kao i knjigoveška radionica. Iako je sam grad Senj odolio turskim osvajanjima nakon poraza hrvatske vojske na Krbavskom polju 1493. godine mnoge crkve su porušene. U Senju je u to vrijeme osnovana Senjska tiskara, nakon što je Blaž Baromić tiskao svoj Brevijar u Veneciji 1493. godine, te se vratio u Senj. Poznato nam je kako su iz Senjska tiskare izašle dvije glagoljske inkunabule Senjski misal i Spovid općena, te još pet knjiga. Senjska tiskara je svijetli primjeri hrvatske kulturne povijesti, ali i europske i svjetske povijesti tiskarstva. Senj je stradao u Drugom svjetskom ratu kada je bombardirana katedrala, a i domovinski rat nije zaobišao Senj. Sakralna baština Senj danas čuva kulturnu ostavštinu povijesti grada, biskupije, ali i dvije inkunabule koje spomenici svjetske pismenosti, Geographie Strabonis i Josephus de Antiquitatibus ac de Bello Judaico. Senjska tiskara ima svoje značajno mjesto u kulturi tiskarstva uopće. Senj and the Diocese of Senj have a long and rich history dating back to ancient times. It is believed that the Senj Cathedral was built on the foundations of an early Christian basilica and is different and special in its construction. The most fruitful period is certainly the Frankapan and Korvin periods, the pre-Turkish and pre-Uskok period when there were scriptories in Senj in which books were copied, as well as a bookbinding workshop. Although the town of Senj itself resisted Turkish conquests after the defeat of the Croatian army on Krbavsko polje in 1493, many churches were destroyed. The Senj printing house was founded in Senj at that time, after Blaž Baromić printed his Breviary in Venice in 1493, and returned to Senj. We know that two Glagolitic incunabula, the Senjski Misal, Spovid općena and five other books were published by the Senj printing house. The Senj printing house is a shining example of Croatian cultural history, but also of European and world printing history. Senj was destroyed in the Second World War when the cathedral was bombed, and the Homeland War did not circumvent Senj. Today, the sacral heritage of Senj preserves the cultural heritage of the history of the city, the diocese, but also two incunabula that are monuments of world literacy, Geographie Strabonis and Josephus de Antiquitatibus ac de Bello Judaico. The Senj printing house has its significant place in the culture of printing in general.

Cilj ovog diplomskog rada je izrada bibliografije inkunabula, odnosno knjiga tiskanih od izuma tiskarskog stroja do 1500. godine koje se nalaze u fondu Zbirke rukopisa i starih knjiga Nacionalne i sveučilišne knjižnice u Zagrebu. Budući da su dosada napravljeni razne bibliografije i katalozi inkunabula u kojima se nalaze dijelom i one pohranjene u Nacionalnoj i sveučilišnoj knjižnici u Zagrebu, ali ne postoji zasebno izdanje u kojem su popisane isključivo inkunabule iz fonda Zbirke rukopisa i starih knjiga, smatramo izradu takve bibliografije potrebnom i korisnom. Bibliografija je izrađena de visu kao primarna bibliografija u kojoj su bibliografske jedinice organizirane primarno prema abecednom, a sekundarno prema kronološkom rasporedu. Bibliografija sadrži 190 bibliografskih jedinica, kojima su obuhvaćene i opisane 204 jedinice građe. Radi boljeg snalaženja u popisu, izrađeno je i kazalo imena auto The aim of this master thesis is the creation of a bibliography of incunabula, the books which were printed before the invention of the printing machine, dated till the year of 1500. All these incunabula are collected and stored in the Manuscripts and Old Books Collection in the National and University Library in Zagreb. Considering there have been different bibliographies and catalogues of incunabula made before with the books from the special collection stored in the National and University Library in Zagreb, none of those serve as a bibliography just for those incunabula stored in the Manuscripts and Old Books Collection. Solely for that reason, the purpose of this thesis is to create a primary bibliography, created de visu, with alphabetic organization of author and anonymus entries. In 190 bibliographic records this bibliography describes 204 physical units currently stored in the Manuscripts and Old Books Collection. There is also an index of authors made specifically for easier navigation through the bibliography.

The signifi cance of the printed book for the development of early modern Europe can hardly be overestimated. Some 30,000 editions of incunabula survive today, in some 450,000 surviving copies, located in about 4,000 different public libraries, mostly in Europe and North America. During the last century, cataloguing of incunabula in libraries all around the world has progressed notably, but the printed and on-line inventories available describe the books in various degrees of detail and, what is more disappointing, remain separate entities, which renders any kind of all-encompassing survey exceedingly lengthy, if not impossible. To overcome such hindrances the Material Evidence in Incunabula (MEI) database has been set up. It integrates existing provenance records as well as providing a space for cataloguing incunabula, which have not been catalogued yet. The database, although far from completion, already enables to start reconstructing dispersed book collections. Cristina Dondi illustrated this with the example of three incunabula she found in libraries in Oxford, Yale, and Harvard, which until the early 19th century belonged to the library of the Franciscan convent of San Cerbone in Lucca. Thanks to the data provided by MEI, it is now possible to connect the descriptions of these three incunabula with the main part of the San Cerbone collection, now kept at the Provincial Library of the Franciscans in Florence.

Od Senjske ploče iz 12. stoljeća koja je klesana u vrijeme kad i Bašćanska ploča pa sve do glagoljske tiskare, preko senjske gimnazije, stanovnici su Senja uvijek ulagali u prave vrijednosti – jezik, obrazovanje i kulturu. Veliki je utjecaj na jačanje nacionalnog identiteta imala i Senjska biskupija kojoj je 1248. godine od pape Inocenta dozvoljena upotreba glagoljice i hrvatskog jezika u crkvenom bogoslužju. Iako je Senjska tiskara bila izvor glagoljskog izdavaštva onog doba, nijedno od izdanja nije ostalo u Senju. U ovom će se radu predstaviti stare i rijetke knjige koje se čuvaju u pojedinim knjižnicama na području grada Senja. Važnost je tih knjiga u tome što svjedoče o kulturnoj i povijesnoj baštini grada Senja koji daje veliki doprinos cjelokupnom hrvatskom nacionalnom identitetu. Sve je veći broj korisnika koji se, istražujući blago hrvatskog naroda, zanimaju za staru i rijetku knjigu., From the 12th century Senj inscription, which was carved at the time when the Baška inscription from the Glagolitic press to the gymnasium, the inhabitants of Senj have always invested in real values - language, education and culture. The diocese of Senj also had a great influence on strengthening the national identity, which in 1248. allowed Pope Innocent to use the Glagolitic language and the Croatian language in church worship. Although the Senj printing press was the source of Glagolitic publishing at the time, none of the publications remained in Senj. This work present old and rare books kept in individual libraries in the area of Senj. The importance of these books is that they testify to the cultural and historical heritage of the town of Senj, which contributes greatly to the overall Croatian national identity. There is a growing number of users who, while exploring the treasures of the Croatian people, are interested in an old and rare book.