History of Graphic Design PDF

6 The German Illustrated Book The Latin word incunabula means “cradle” or “baby linen.” Its connotations of birth and beginnings led seventeenth-...

6 The German Illustrated Book The Latin word incunabula means “cradle” or “baby linen.” Its connotations of birth and beginnings led seventeenth- century writers to adopt it as a name for books printed between Gutenberg’s invention of typography in the 1450s and the end of the fifteenth century. (The traditional end- date is completely arbitrary; this chapter traces the logical continuation of trends in design and typography into the early 1500s.) Printing spread rapidly. By 1480 twenty-three northern European towns, thirty-one Italian towns, seven French towns, six Iberian towns, and one English town had presses. By 1500 printing was practiced in over 140 towns. In 1450 Europe’s monasteries and libraries had housed a mere fifty thousand volumes; during the incunabula period it is estimated that over thirty-five thousand editions—a total of nine million books—were printed. In addition, a vast array of ephemera, including religious tracts, pamphlets, 6–1 and broadsides, was produced for free distribution or sale. Broadsides—single-leaf pages printed on one side—eventually evolved into printed posters, advertisements, and newspapers. Four years after printing came to Venice, a dismayed scribe complained that the city was “stuffed with books.” The boom in the new craft led to overproduction and an overabundance of firms. Of the over one hundred printing firms established in Venice before 1490, only ten survived until the end of the century. Printing was resisted in some quarters. Scribes in Genoa banded together and demanded that the town council forbid printing in the town. They argued that greedy printers were threatening their livelihood. The council did not support the petition, and within two years Genoa joined the growing ranks of towns with printers. Parisian illuminators filed suits in the courts in a vain attempt to win damages from printers who, it was claimed, were engaged in unfair competition that reduced the demand for manuscript books. Some bibliophiles maintained that type was inferior to calligraphy and unworthy of their libraries. In 1492 a cardinal, later Pope Julius II, ordered scribes to hand-letter a copy of a typographic book for his library. The tide could not be stayed, however, and manuscript 6–1. Ex libris design for Johannes production slowly declined. Typographic printing reduced Knabensberg, c. 1450s. One of the a book’s price to a fraction of its previous cost, turning a earliest extant bookplates, it bears serious shortage of books (and the knowledge they contained) an inscription, “Hans Igler that the into an abundance. The philosopher Alfred North Whitehead hedgehog may kiss you.” Igler, Kna- once observed how major advances in civilization are process- bensberg’s nickname, is similar to the es that all but wreck the society where they occur. Typography German word for hedgehog, making is the major communications advance between the invention of this an early graphic pun. writing and twentieth-century electronic mass communications; 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 80 9/9/11 7:29 PM  Origins of the illustrated typographic book 81 it played a pivotal role in the social, economic, and religious By the end of the incunabula period, presses had been upheavals of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. established throughout Europe, but very few printers of the Printing stabilized and unified languages, for example. time contributed to the development of graphic design. Most People all across France were reading the same material in the were content to print copies of manuscripts or earlier printed same French, which formerly had many provincial idiosyn- editions. Although the press replaced the copisti in producing crasies of spelling and grammar. The French, English, and running text, the same division of labor as found in the scrip- German languages became typographic mass media commu- torium continued. Multicolor printing was used in Fust and nicating to audiences of unprecedented size with one voice, Schoeffer’s Psalter in Latin, but rubrication, decoration, and contributing to the vigorous spirit of nationalism that led to illumination in early incunabula were almost always by hand. the development of the modern nation-state. The new medium Perhaps the difficulties of multicolor printing made it more was also a powerful vehicle for spreading ideas about human expensive, or maybe enough political pressure was generated rights and the sovereignty of the peoples, ideas that led to the by the rubricators and illuminators to allow them to continue American and French revolutions of the late eighteenth cen- their work on typographic books. tury. And in terms of the history of technology, Gutenberg’s Design innovation did emerge in Germany, where woodcut invention was the first mechanization of a skilled handicraft. artists and typographic printers collaborated to develop the As such, it set into motion the processes that over the next illustrated book and broadsheet. In Italy, the letter styles and three hundred years would lead to the Industrial Revolution. format design inherited from illuminated manuscripts gave Illiteracy, the inability to read and write, began a long, way to a design approach unique to the typographic book. steady decline. Literacy was of limited value to a medieval Early printers followed the manuscript custom of putting the peasant who had no hope of gaining access to books. But title and author at the top of the first page, in the same size tumbling book prices, the beginnings of popular genres such and style of lettering as the text. A short space was skipped, as the romance (precursor of the modern novel), and the pro- and then Incipit (here begins) launched the book. Early in the liferation of the ever-present broadside made reading desirable incunabula period, a printed ex libris, or bookplate (Fig. 6–1), and increasingly necessary for Renaissance townspeople. The was pasted into the front of a book to identify the owner. As medieval classroom had been a scriptorium of sorts, where printing spread from Mainz, so did the use of the printer’s each student penned his own book. Typography radically trademark as a visual identifier. altered education. Learning became an increasingly private, Scribes and artists were often called upon to make ex- rather than communal, process. Within that private sphere, emplars, or layouts, for illustrated books and broadsides. however, the typographic book extended human dialogue to Manuscript books have been discovered with editorial notes, an unprecedented degree, bridging expanses of time and space. marginal notes to indicate where typeset pages end, inky fin- Renaissance innovators altered the perception of informa- gerprints, and sketches for woodblocks. These indicate their tion by creating two visual systems. Painting evoked illusions use as layouts and manuscripts for printed books. For example, of the natural world on a flat surface through such means in one manuscript, the scribe’s colophon is scratched out while as the single light source and light-and-shadow modeling; in the printed book it is replaced by a typeset version. the fixed viewpoint and linear perspective; and atmospheric perspective. Typography created a sequential and repeatable Origins of the illustrated typographic book ordering of information and space that encouraged linear Block printers and woodcarvers feared typographic printing thought and logic. It inspired a categorization and compart- as a serious threat to their livelihood, but early in the evolu- mentalization of information that formed the basis for empiri- tion of the typographic book, Bamberg printer Albrecht cal scientific inquiry. It fostered individualism, a dominant Pfister began to illustrate his books with woodblock prints. aspect of Western society since the Renaissance. About 1460, he used five woodblocks (Fig. 6–2) and the types Publication of edition after edition of the Bible made in- from Gutenberg’s thirty-six-line Bible to print his first edition creased study possible. People throughout Europe formulated of Johannes von Tepl’s Der Ackerman aus Böhmen (Death and their own interpretations instead of relying on established the Ploughman); Pfister’s nine editions of five books were religious authority. This led directly to the Reformation, popular literature, in contrast to the theological and scholarly which shattered Christianity into hundreds of sects. After works published by most other early printers. As the decades Martin Luther (1483–1546) posted his Ninety-five Theses for passed, typographic printers dramatically increased their use debate on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Saxony, of woodblock illustrations. This created a booming demand on 31 October 1517, his friends passed copies to printers. By for blocks, and the stature of graphic illustrators increased. December his proclamation had spread throughout central Augsburg and Ulm, centers for woodblock playing-card and Europe. Within a few months, thousands of people all over religious-print production, became centers for illustrated Europe knew his views. Without typography, it is doubtful books. In the 1470s Günther Zainer (d. 1478) established a that the Protestant movement of the Reformation era could press in Augsburg, and his relative Johann Zainer (d. c. 1523) have occurred. Both Luther and Pope Leo X used printed established one about 70 kilometers (43 miles) to the east broadsides and tracts in a theological dispute before a mass in Ulm. Both men were scribes and illuminators who had audience throughout the continent. learned printing in Strasbourg. 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 81 9/9/11 7:29 PM  82 Chapter 06: The German Illustrated Book 6–2. Albrecht Pfister (printer), illustra- 6–5. Johann Zainer, page from c. tion from the second edition of Der 1473 edition of Petrarch’s Historia Ackerman aus Böhmen (Death and Griseldis. the Ploughman), c. 1463. Death sits as a king on his throne, flanked by a 6–6. Anton Sorg, page from Aesop’s widower and his child on the left and Vita et fabulae (Life and Tales), c. the deceased wife on the right. 1479. Sorg used a wider column width than did Johann Zainer in an earlier 6–3. Günther Zainer (printer), page editon using the same woodcuts and with hand-colored woodcut of a cou- tried to compensate for the lack of ple playing a board game from Das alignment between the illustration goldene Spiel (The Golden Game), by and the type column with a margin Meister Ingolt, Augsburg, 1472. of white space above and below the illustration. 6–4. Günther Zainer, page with hand- colored woodcut from De responsio- 6–2 ne mundi et de astrorum ordinatione, by Isidore of Seville, fifteenth century. 6–3 6–4 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 82 9/9/11 7:29 PM  Nuremberg becomes a printing center 83 6–6 are not completely enclosed by rectangular borders, so white space flowed from the wide margins into the pictures. Simple outline initials extend this lightening effect. Typographic paragraph marks leave nothing for the rubricator in this volume; the printed book was becoming independent of the manuscript. The first illustrator to be identified as such in a book was 6–5 Erhard Reuwich (c. 1450–1505), for his work in Peregrinatio- nes in Montem Syon (Travels in Mount Zion), printed with Günther Zainer met resistance from the Augsburg Schoeffer’s types in 1486. The author of this first travel book, woodcutter’s guild when he wanted to illustrate his books Bernardus de Breidenbach, dean of the Mainz Cathedral, with woodblocks. A 1471 agreement allowed Zainer to use departed for Jerusalem in April 1483 and took Reuwich along woodblock illustrations as long as he commissioned them to record the sights. When they returned to Mainz in Janu- from members of the guild. His first illustrated books used a ary 1484, Breidenbach wrote a book about his journey; the rounded Gothic type and woodblocks set into a type column published volume featured woodblocks cut from Reuwich’s of the same width. By 1472 his illustrated books, including drawings. Reuwich was a careful observer of nature who Das goldene Spiel (The Golden Game) used woodcuts with introduced crosshatch illustration in this volume. His illus- textured areas and some solid blacks (Fig. 6–3). This intro- trations included regional maps, significant buildings, and duced a greater tonal range to the page. Fortune smiled upon views of major cities. This book was the first to have foldout Zainer, for the sale of about thirty-six thousand books printed illustrations, including a four-page-wide view of Methoni, in over one hundred editions made him one of Augsburg’s Greece (Fig. 6–7), the Greek island of Rhodes (Fig. 6–8), and a most prominent and affluent citizens. woodcut of Venice stretching over 1.2 meters (4 feet). In Günther Zainer’s 1472 edition of Isidore of Seville’s De responsione mundi et de astrorum ordinatione (Fig. 6–4) the Nuremberg becomes a printing center illustrations have a variable line weight; the capital initials Because printing required a huge capital investment and a were added later by hand. Elegant hand-colored woodcut large trained labor force, it is not surprising that by the end borders are used in Johann Zainer’s 1473 edition of Petrarch’s of the 1400s Nuremberg, which had become central Europe’s Historia Griseldis (Fig. 6–5). Woodcuts were sometimes used most prosperous center of commerce and distribution, repeatedly in different books. For example, the 175 woodcuts housed Germany’s most esteemed printer, Anton Koberger in Johann Zainer’s 1476 edition of Aesop’s Vita et fabulae (Life (c. 1440–1513). His firm was staffed by a hundred craftsmen and Tales) appear again in the edition by Ulm printer Anton operating twenty-four presses; it printed over two hundred Sorg four years later (Fig. 6–6). Many of these illustrations editions, including fifteen Bibles (Fig. 6–9). Koberger was 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 83 9/9/11 7:29 PM  84 Chapter 06: The German Illustrated Book 6–7. Erhard Reuwich (illustrator), illustration from Peregrinationes in Montem Syon (Travels in Mount Zion), 1486. Panoramic vistas present accu- rate depictions of the cities visited on a journey from Germany to Jerusalem. This four-page spread depicts the city of Methoni in Greece. 6–8. Erhard Reuwich (illustrator), 6–7 illustration from Peregrinationes in Montem Syon, 1486. This four-page spread depicts the Greek island of Rhodes. 6–9. Anton Koberger, Bible in German, 1483. 6–10. Anton Koberger, Repertorium Morale, 1489. 6–11. Anton Koberger, pages from 6–8 the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. The raised hand of God in the initial illus- tration is repeated over several pages also a bookseller, with sixteen shops and agents throughout retelling the biblical story of creation. Europe. By the 1490s most printers had trouble selling large books and had abandoned the huge format of liturgical Bibles. 6–12. Anton Koberger, pages from Books with smaller page sizes were more convenient and af- the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. As in fordable for private customers. Koberger, however, continued image 6–11 the raised hand of God to publish and sell large books (Fig. 6–10). implies the biblical story of creation. As a printer working in concert with master illustrators, he produced three masterpieces. The 1491 Schatzbehalter (Treasure Trove), a religious treatise, contains ninety-two accurate conversion. The publishers contracted with Michael full-page woodcuts by the painter and woodcut illustrator Wolgemut (1434–1519) and his stepson Wilhelm Pleydenwurff Michael Wolgemuth (1434–1519). Published in German and (1460–94) to create the exemplars, draw the illustrations, and Latin versions in 1493, the six-hundred-page Liber Chronicarum cut, correct, and prepare the woodblocks for printing. Also, (Nuremberg Chronicle) by Dr. Hartmann Schedel is an ambi- one or the other had to be present at the printshop during tious history of the world from the biblical dawn of creation typesetting and printing. For this work the artists were paid until 1493 (Figs. 6–11 and 6–12). One of the masterpieces of a one-thousand-guilder advance and guaranteed one-half of incunabula-period graphic design, the Nuremberg Chronicle has the net profits. Major cities of the world were illustrated (Fig. 1,809 woodcut illustrations in its complex, carefully designed 6–16); some woodblocks were used for more than one city. 47.5 by 32.6 centimeter (18 by 12 inch) pages. The title page for Because many woodcuts were used several times, only 645 the index is a full-page woodblock of calligraphy (Fig. 6–13) different woodcuts were required. For example, 598 portraits attributed to George Alt (c. 1450–1510), a scribe who assisted of popes, kings, and other historical personages were printed Hartmann Schedel in lettering the Latin exemplar and who from 96 blocks (Fig. 6–17). translated the Latin manuscript into German for that version. Koberger’s contract required him to order and pay for In addition, Alt created a number of the illustrations. paper that was as good as, or better than, the sample he had The exemplars (handmade model layouts and manuscript supplied; print the book according to the exemplars in an texts used as guides for the woodcut illustrations, typeset- acceptable type style; maintain the security of a locked room ting, page design, and makeup of books) for both editions for the project; and provide a workroom for Wolgemut and survive and provide rare insight into the design and produc- Pleydenwurff. Koberger was paid four guilders for every ream tion process (Figs. 6–14 and 6–15). The exemplars for the (five hundred sheets) of four-page sheets printed. During the Nuremberg Chronicle are the work of several “sketch artists” months of production, Koberger could bill the publishers and numerous scribes. The lettering in the exemplar has periodically for portions of the book that had been printed the same character count as the type font, ensuring an and gathered into three-sheet, twelve-page signatures. 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 84 9/9/11 7:29 PM  Nuremberg becomes a printing center 85 6–9 6–10 6–11 6–12 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 85 9/9/11 7:29 PM  86 Chapter 06: The German Illustrated Book 6–13 6–14 6–15 6–16 Page layouts range from a full double-page illustration of berg from Wolgemut’s home and studio, assisted in the layout the city of Nuremberg (Fig. 6–16) to purely typographic pages and illustration of the Nuremberg Chronicle. without illustrations. On some pages, woodcuts are inserted In 1498 Dürer published Latin and German editions of The into the text; on others, woodcuts are lined into vertical Apocalypse (Fig. 6–18) illustrated by his monumental sequence columns (Fig. 6–17). Rectangular illustrations are placed of fifteen woodcuts. This thirty-two-page book, with 44.5 by under or above type areas. When the layout threatens to 30.5 centimeter (16 by 12 inch) pages, has fifteen layouts with become repetitious, the reader is jolted by an unexpected page two columns of Koberger’s type on the left facing a Dürer il- design. The dense texture and rounded strokes of Koberger’s lustration on the right. Dürer’s Apocalypse has an unprecedent- sturdy Gothic types contrast handsomely with the tones of the ed emotional power and graphic expressiveness. Volume and woodcuts. The illustrators used their imagination to create depth, light and shadow, texture and surface are created by unseen monstrosities, unvisited cities, and awful tortures, and black ink on white paper, which becomes a metaphor for light to express the story of creation in graphic symbols. in a turbulent world of awesome powers. The book earned the Koberger was godfather to Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), twenty-seven-year-old Dürer renown throughout Europe. whose goldsmith father apprenticed him to Wolgemut for The colophon in The Apocalypse reads “Printed by Albrecht almost four years, beginning in 1486. Most likely the young Dürer.” Given his prodigious volume of prints, Dürer probably Dürer, who grew up three houses down the street in Nurem- had a press in his workshop. As the types used are Koberger’s, 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 86 9/9/11 7:29 PM  Nuremberg becomes a printing center 87 6–13. George Alt, title page for the 6–18. Albrecht Dürer, The Four Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. This Horsemen of the Apocalypse, 1498. title reads, “Registry [index] for this Poised at a historical watershed as the Book of Chronicles with illustrations medieval epoch evolved toward the and portraits from the initiation of the German Renaissance, Dürer simulta- world.” neously achieved the spiritual power of the former and the artistic mastery 6–14. Anton Koberger, pages from of the latter. the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. This complex layout is ordered by the use of rules around the illustrations. These convert the silhouette images into rectangles, which can be tightly fitted with the rectangles of type. 6–15. Studio of Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, pages from the Nuremberg Chronicle, Latin exemplar, pre-1493. This layout and manuscript provided guidance for the compositors, although liberties were taken in the final layout. 6–16. Anton Koberger, pages from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. This image depicts the city of Nuremberg. 6–17. Anton Koberger, page from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. Many of the woodblock illustrations were hand-painted. Several of these portraits were used multiple times in the text. 6–18 6–17 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 87 9/9/11 7:29 PM  88 Chapter 06: The German Illustrated Book because they lacked the theoretical knowledge of the profes- sionals to the south. This inspired his book Underweisung der Messung mit dem Zirckel und Richtscheyt (A Course in the Art of Measurement with Compass and Ruler), in 1525 (Fig. 6–20). The first two chapters are theoretical discussions of linear geometry and two-dimensional geometric construc- tion. The third chapter explains the application of geometry to architecture, decoration, engineering, and letterforms. Dürer’s beautifully proportioned Roman capitals, with clear instructions for their composition, contributed significantly to the evolution of alphabet design. Relating each letter to the square, Dürer worked out a construction method using a one-to-ten ratio of the heavy stroke width to height. This is the approximate proportion of the Trajan alphabet, but Dürer did not base his designs on any single source. Recognizing the value of art and perception as well as geometry, he advised his readers that certain construction faults could only be cor- 6–19 rected by a sensitive eye and trained hand. The fourth chapter covers the construction of geometric solids, linear perspective, and mechanical aids to drawing. The illustrated book De Symmetria Partium Humanorum Corporum (Treatise on Human Proportions) (Fig. 6–21) first appeared in Nuremberg shortly after Dürer’s death in 1528. It shared his tremendous knowledge of drawing, the human figure, and the advances of Italian artists with German paint- ers and graphic artists. The further development of the German illustrated book While graphic artists and printers in Italy and France evolved toward Renaissance book design (discussed in chapter 7), German graphic artists continued their tradition of using textura typography and vigorous woodcut illustrations. One of Dürer’s former students, Hans Schäufelein, was commissioned to design the illustrations for Melchior Pfintzing’s Teuer- 6–20 dank (Fig. 6–22), an adventure of chivalry and knighthood printed by Johann Schoensperger the Elder at Nuremberg in 1517. Commissioned and planned by Emperor Maximilian I we don’t know if Dürer acquired set type from his godfather (1459–1519)—archduke of Austria, German king, and Holy and printed The Apocalypse; printed the woodblocks and sent Roman emperor (1493–1519)—to commemorate his marriage the sheets to Koberger’s shop for typographic imprinting; or to Mary of Burgundy, this lavish book required five years supervised while Koberger printed the edition. to produce. The types for Teuerdank, designed by court In 1511 Dürer issued a new edition of The Apocalypse and calligrapher Vincenz Rockner, comprise one of the earliest published two other large-format volumes, the Large Passion examples of the Gothic style known as Fraktur. Some of the and The Life of the Virgin. In his mature work he achieved rigid, angular straight lines found in textura letterforms mastery in the use of line as tone. Dürer’s broadsides were very were replaced with flowing, curved strokes. popular, and at least eight editions of his Rhinoceros (Fig. 6–19) Rockner carried this design quality even further in an went out of print. The text was undoubtedly edited to make effort to duplicate the gestural freedom of the pen. As many the five lines of metal type form a perfect rectangle of tone as eight alternate characters were designed and cast for each aligning with the woodcut border. letterform. These had sweeping calligraphic f lourishes, some Trips to Venice for six months at age twenty-three and of which f lowed deep into the surrounding space. When for one-and-a-half years in his mid-thirties enabled Dürer the book was published, other printers insisted that these to absorb the painting theory and technique, as well as the ornamental letterforms must have been printed from wood- humanist philosophy, of the Italian Renaissance. He became a blocks, refusing to believe it possible to achieve these effects major influence in the cultural exchange that saw the Renais- with cast metal types. (An inverted i in the 1517 edition, sance spirit filter into Germany. He believed German artists however, conclusively proves that metal types were used to and craftsmen were producing work inferior to that of Italians print Teuerdank.) 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 88 9/9/11 7:29 PM  The further development of the German illustrated book 89 6–19. Albrecht Dürer, broadside, 1515. Dürer developed his woodcut illustration from a sketch and descrip- tion sent from Spain, after the first rhinoceros in over a thousand years arrived in Europe. 6–20. Albrecht Dürer, from Under- weisung der Messung, 1525. Dürer presented variations for each charac- ter in the alphabet. 6–21. Albrecht Dürer, woodcut from De Symmetria Partium Humanorum Corporum (Treatise on Human Propor- tions), 1532. To assist his fellow artists, Dürer offers a “through-the-looking- grid” device as an aid to drawing. 6–22. Johann Schoensperger (printer), pages from Teuerdank, 1517. The full title of the work translates as “The adventures and a portion of the story of the praiseworthy, valiant, and high-renowned hero and knight, Lord Tewrdannckh.” The flamboyant calligraphic gestures are appropriate for this romantic novel about chivalry. The swashes are carefully placed to 6–21 animate the pages in the layout of the book. 6–22 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 89 9/9/11 7:29 PM  90 Chapter 06: The German Illustrated Book 6–23. Lucas Cranach the Elder (il- lustrator), pages from Passional Christi und Antichristi, 1521. In a biting satirical contrast, Christ labors under the weight of his cross while the Pope travels in style in a sedan chair. 6–24. Johannes Grunenberg (printer) and Lucas Cranach the Elder (illustra- tor), pages from Passional Christi und Antichristi, 1521. Here Christ is depicted driving the moneylenders from the temple. 6–23 Technically speaking, a broadside is a single leaf of paper his considerable energy to the Reformation by portraying the printed on one side only. When both sides are printed, the Reformers and their cause in books and broadsides. When page is frequently called a broadsheet; however, these terms Luther traveled to Worms for his celebrated trial in 1521, his are often used interchangeably. This ephemeral form of portraits by Cranach filled the town on printed matter pro- graphic communications became a major means for infor- claiming his beliefs. Yet Cranach regularly accepted commis- mation dissemination from the invention of printing until sions for Madonnas and Crucifixions from Catholic clients, the middle of the nineteenth century. Content ranged from and many of the woodcuts he produced for the Luther Bible announcements of deformed births to portraits of famous were also used in a subsequent Catholic edition. A most effec- secular and religious leaders (Figs. 6–26 and 6–27). Festivals tive example of propaganda is Cranach’s work for the Passional and fairs were advertised, and the sale of lottery tickets and Christi und Antichristi (Passion of Christ and Antichrist) (Figs. indulgences was announced. Political causes and religious 6–23 and 6–24), printed by Johannes Grunenberg in 1521. beliefs were expounded, and invasions and disasters were Inspired by Luther, scenes from the life of Christ and biting proclaimed. Folded printed sheets evolved into pamphlets, depictions of the papacy are juxtaposed in graphic contrast on tracts, and, later, newspapers. The design of a broadside was facing pages. Both of Cranach’s sons, Hans Cranach (d. 1537) often the task of the compositor, who organized the space and and Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515–86), joined their father’s made typographic decisions while setting the type. Woodblock studio; few examples of Hans’s work remain, but the younger illustrations were commissioned from artists. Once available, son continued to work in the family style for many years after a given woodblock might appear in a number of broadsides, his father’s death and illustrated books such as Fabian von or be sold or loaned to another printer. Auerswald’s Ringer-Kunst (Art of Wrestling) (Fig. 6–25) and As Martin Luther pressed the breach with the Catholic the broadside displaying Martin Luther’s portrait (Fig. 6–26). Church that began in 1517, his presence at the university in In addition to Cranach, Hans Baldung Grien (c. 1480–1545), Wittenberg brought importance to the graphics produced also a supporter of the Reformation, produced portraits of there. Luther found a loyal friend and follower in the artist Luther (Fig. 6–27). Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553), who had been called to Wittenberg by the electors of Saxony. In addition to his studio, Typography spreads from Germany staffed by a number of well-trained assistants, Cranach oper- Italy, which was at the forefront of Europe’s slow transition from ated a printing office, a bookshop, and a paper mill. He even the feudal medieval world to the Renaissance, sponsored the found time to serve as mayor of Wittenberg twice. He turned first printing press outside Germany. Although fifteenth-century 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 90 9/9/11 7:29 PM  Typography spreads from Germany 91 6–24 Italy was a political patchwork of city-states, monarchies, not absorb the sudden supply of books. The partnership of republics, and papal domains, it was at the zenith of its wealth Sweynheym and Pannartz suffered a financial collapse and and splendid patronage of the arts and architecture. In 1465 was dissolved. Cardinal Turrecremata of the Benedictine monastery at Subiaco Initial volumes printed in Italy continued the pattern of invited two printers, Conrad Sweynheym (d. 1477) of Mainz the early German printed books. Initials, folios, headings, and (who had worked for Peter Schoeffer) and Arnold Pannartz paragraph marks were not printed. Space was left for these to (d. 1476) of Cologne, to Subiaco to establish a press. The cardi- be rubricated by a scribe with red ink. Often, a small letter nal wished to publish Latin classics and his own writings. was printed in the space left for an illuminated initial, inform- The types designed by Sweynheym and Pannartz (Figs. ing the scribe what initial to draw. In many incunabula, the 6–28 and 6–29) marked the first step toward a Roman-style paragraph marks were not drawn in the spaces provided. typography based on letterforms that had been developed by Eventually, the blank space alone indicated a paragraph. Italian scribes. These scholars had discovered copies of lost After apprenticing in the English textile trade, William Roman classics written in ninth-century Caroline minuscules. Caxton (c. 1421–91) left his native land for the textile center They mistakenly thought they had discovered authentic Ro- of Bruges in the Low Countries, where he set up his own busi- man writing, in contrast to the black medieval lettering that ness as a merchant and diplomat. In the early 1470s he spent they erroneously believed to be the writing style of the “bar- a year and a half in Cologne, where he learned printing and barians” who had destroyed Rome. Sweynheym and Pannartz translated Raoul le Feure’s Recuyell of the Histories of Troy from created a typographic “double alphabet” by combining the French into English. On returning to Bruges, he enlisted the capital letters of ancient Roman inscriptions with the rounded help of the illuminator and calligrapher Colard Mansion and minuscules that had evolved in Italy from the Caroline minus- set up a press. In 1475 Caxton’s translation became the first cule. They tried to unify these contrasting alphabets by adding typographic book in the English language. In the epilogue to serifs to some of the minuscule letters and redesigning others. the third part, Caxton tells the reader, “my pen is worn, my After three years in Subiaco, Sweynheym and Pannartz moved hand is weary and shaky, my eyes are dimmed from too much to Rome, where they designed a more fully Roman alphabet looking at white paper”; thus he “practiced and learned at that became the prototype for the Roman alphabets still in great expense how to print it.” use today. By 1473 they had printed over fifty editions, usually The partners separated after printing an English transla- in press runs of 275 copies. Ten other Italian cities also had tion of Jacobus de Cessolis’s The Game and Playe of the Chesse printers publishing Latin classics, and the market could (Fig. 6–30) and two or three French-language books. Mansion 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 91 9/9/11 7:29 PM  92 Chapter 06: The German Illustrated Book 6–25. Hans Lufft (printer) and Lucas Cranach the Younger (illustrator), pages from Fabian von Auerswald’s Ringer-Kunst (Art of Wrestling), 1539. Lufft printed Cranach’s eighty-seven woodcuts without the usual border, enabling them to move dynamically on the page. The centered captions above and the thick rule below provide balance in this predominantly pictorial book. 6–26. Lucas Cranach the Younger, broadside, 1551. This commemora- tive portrait of Martin Luther bears the identification of the illustrator (Cranach’s flying snake device) and the block cutter, a craftsman named Jörg, who is identified typographically above the date. 6–25 6-27. Portrait of Martin Luther, 1521. remained in Bruges and printed twenty-seven editions before 1484, when he was forced to flee the city to escape his credi- tors. Caxton moved his types and press across the English Channel and established the first press on English soil. Having already printed the first book in the English language, now he printed the first book in England, at the Sign of the Red Pail in Westminster. 6–27 The roughly ninety books that he published in Westminster encompassed nearly all the major works of English literature up to the fifteenth century, including Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (Fig. 6–31) and Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur. Cax- ton is a pivotal figure in the development of a national English language, for his typographic work stabilized and unified the constantly changing, diverse dialects in use throughout the islands. Primarily a scholar and translator, Caxton contributed little to the evolution of book design and printing, as his work had a crude vigor devoid of graphic elegance or refine- 6–26 ment. Woodcut illustrations from his volumes have a brash forcefulness and are awkwardly drawn; the workmanship of his printing is inferior to Continental printing from the same period. Caxton’s printer’s mark (Fig. 6–32) evokes the carpets woven at Bruges. After Caxton’s death, his foreman, Wynkyn de Worde, continued his work and published nearly four hundred titles over the following four decades. Printing came to France in 1470 when three German print- ers—Michael Freiburger, Ulrich Gering, and Martin Kranz— were sponsored by the prior and the librarian of the Sorbonne to establish a press there. At first they used Roman letters inspired by Italian types to reprint classics, but after they lost their Sorbonne sponsorship in 1473 they began to print with Gothic types that were more familiar to their French audience. 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 92 9/9/11 7:29 PM  Typography spreads from Germany 93 6–28. Konrad Sweynheym and Arnold Pannartz, pages from Lactantius’s Opera, 1465. The first religious book printed in Italy, on the first Italian printing press, at the monastery at Subiaco. The text is set in the earli- est typeface designed and cast by Sweynheym and Pannartz and shows the first appearance of Greek letters in the history of printing by movable type. 6–29. Conrad Sweynheym and Arnold Pannartz, page from Augustine of Hippo’s City of God, 1467. This is the first printed volume of St. Augustine’s City of God and one of four books printed by Sweynheym and Pannartz at the Benedictine monastery at Subiaco. This initial page is elegantly decorated with gold leaf and colors, illuminated initials, and a portrait of St. Augustine. The text is in the second typeface designed and cast by Sweynheym and Pannartz. 6–29 6–28 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 93 9/9/11 7:29 PM  94 Chapter 06: The German Illustrated Book 6–30. William Caxton and Colard Mansion, page from Jacobus de Cessolis’s The Game and Playe of the Chesse, c. 1476. The eccentric, jerky type used by Caxton ushered the era of the typographic book into the British nation. 6–30 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 94 9/9/11 7:30 PM  Typography spreads from Germany 95 6–31 6–31. William Caxton, pages from To a greater degree than in any other country, French block The Canterbury Tales, 1477. printers and typographic printers joined forces to duplicate the design of illuminated manuscripts. Late Gothic illumina- 6–32. William Caxton, printer’s trade- tion was the zenith of French art at the time, and early French mark, after 1477. printing surrounded Gothic type and woodcut illustrations with modular blocks that filled the space with flowers and leaves, birds and animals, patterns and portraits. Jean Dupré printed France’s first outstanding typographic book, Au- gustine of Hippo’s La cité de Dieu (The City of God), in 1486. Philippe Pigouchet’s Horae (Book of Hours) established the graphic excellence of this popular form (Fig. 6–33). Both a printer and engraver, Pigouchet appears to have introduced the criblé technique, in which the black areas of a woodblock 6–32 are punched with white dots, giving the page a lively tonality (Fig. 6–34). His magnificent editions such as Heures a lusiage de Paris in 1500 closely resemble manuscripts from a previous era. Spain also received three German printers, who arrived in Valencia in 1473 under the auspices of a major German import-export firm. The design sense of the Spanish, which favored dark masses balancing decorative detail, influenced their graphic design, particularly their large woodblock title pages (Fig. 6–35). A particular masterpiece of Spanish 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 95 9/9/11 7:30 PM  96 Chapter 06: The German Illustrated Book 6–33. Philippe Pigouchet, page from Horae Beatus Virginis Mariae (Hours of the Blessed Virgin Mary), 1498. The dense complexity of illustration, typography, and ornaments com- pressed into the space is typical of Philippe Pigouchet’s book design. 6–34. Philippe Pigouchet, page from Heures a lusiage de Paris, 1500. This costly edition printed on vellum clearly demonstrates the continuity of page design from manuscripts to the era of printing from movable type. 6–33 6–34 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 96 9/9/11 7:30 PM  Typography spreads from Germany 97 typographic design is Arnao Guillén de Brocar’s Polyglot Bible (Fig. 6–36) of 1514–17. Composed of correlated texts in multiple languages, this massive research project drew scholars from all over Europe to the University of Alcalá de Henares. The printer had to design a page format to accom- modate five simultaneous typographic presentations. During the remarkable first decades of typography, German printers and graphic artists established a national tradition of the illustrated book and spread the new medium of com- munication throughout Europe and even to the New World. Simultaneously, a cultural renaissance emerged in Italy and swept graphic design in unprecedented new directions. 6–35 6–35. Diego de Gumiel, title page for Aureum Opus (Great Works), 1515. The title almost becomes an afterthought in this title page. The use of white-on-black woodblocks and heraldic imagery is typical of early Spanish graphic design. 6–36. Arnao Guillén de Brocar, page from the Polyglot Bible, 1514–17. The grid system developed for this volume uses uneven columns to compensate for the different running lengths of the different languages. 6–36 07_9780470168738-ch06.indd 97 9/9/11 7:30 PM  7 Renaissance Graphic Design 7–1 7–2 The word renaissance means “revival” or “rebirth.” Originally in Venice, publishing the first book, Epistolae ad familiares this term was used to denote the period that began in the (Letters to Friends), by Cicero, in 1469. His innovative and fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in Italy, when the classical handsome roman type (Fig. 7–1) cast off some of the Gothic literature of ancient Greece and Rome was revived and read qualities found in the fonts of Sweynheym and Pannartz; anew. However, the word is now generally used to encompass he claimed that it was an original invention and managed to the period marking the transition from the medieval to the restrict it to his exclusive use until his death in 1470. Printed modern world. In the history of graphic design, the renais- in partnership with his brother, Wendelin, da Spira’s 1470 sance of classical literature and the work of the Italian human- edition of Augustine of Hippo’s De civitate Dei was the first ists are closely bound to an innovative approach to book de- typographic book with printed page numbers. Wendelin da sign. Type design, page layout, ornaments, illustration—even Spira inherited his brother’s press—but not the exclusive right the total design of the book—were all rethought by Italian to printing in Venice—upon Johannes’s untimely death. The printers and scholars. The prototype roman alphabet designs ending of the monopoly cleared the path for other printers such of Sweynheym and Pannartz (see Figs. 6–28 and 6-29) and the as Nicolas Jenson (c. 1420–80) to establish presses in Venice. coarse decorative borders of early French books (see Fig. 6–34) Jenson, who, after initially serving as an apprentice at the were the first tentative steps toward unique Renaissance book Paris mint and later as Master of the Royal Mint of Tours, designs. Although Sweynheym and Pannartz set up the first France, was a highly skilled cutter of dies used for strik- printing press in Italy at the Benedictine monastery in Subiaco ing coin. He established Venice’s second press shortly after near Rome, the flowering of a new approach to book design Johannes da Spira’s death. In 1458 King Charles VII of France that was independent of the German illustrated book started sent Jenson to Mainz to learn printing. It has been said that in Venice and continued there during the last three decades of Jenson chose not to return to France after Louis XI ascended the fifteenth century. to the French throne in 1461. Jenson’s fame as one of his- tory’s greatest typeface designers and punch cutters rests on Graphic design of the Italian Renaissance the types first used in Eusebius’s De praeparatione evangelica It was not Florence, where the wealthy Medicis scorned (Evangelical Preparation), which presents the full flowering printing as inferior to manuscript books, but Venice—a center of roman type design (Fig. 7–2). of commerce and Europe’s gateway to trade with the eastern Part of the lasting influence of Jenson’s fonts is their Mediterranean, India, and East Asia—that led the way in extreme legibility, but it was his ability to design the spaces Italian typographic book design. A Mainz goldsmith, Johannes between the letters and within each form to create an even da Spira (d. 1470), was given a five-year monopoly on printing tone throughout the page that placed the mark of genius on 08_9780470168738-ch07.indd 98 9/9/11 7:27 PM  Graphic design of the Italian Renaissance 99 7–1. Johannes da Spira, typography from Augustine of Hippo’s De civitate Dei, 1469. The vertical stress and sharp angles of textura evident in Sweynheym and Pannartz’s fonts yielded to an organic unity of horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and circular forms. 7–2. Nicolas Jenson, typography from Eusebius’s De praeparatione evangelica, 1470. A new standard of excellence was established with wider letterforms, lighter tone, and 7–3 a more even texture of black strokes on the white ground. 7–3 and 7–4. Nicolas Jenson, pages from Incipit officium beate Marie 7–5 virginus secundum consuetudinem romane curie (Little Office of the Virgin Mary), 1475. 7–5. Printer’s trademark, 1481. Attributed to Andreas Torresanus (1451–1529). One of the oldest symbolic themes, the orb and cross is found in a chamber of Cheops’s pyramid at Giza, where it was hewn 7–4 into stone as a quarry mark. A fairly common design device at this time, it symbolized that “God shall reign his work. During the last decade of his life Jenson designed over earth.” outstanding roman, Greek, and Gothic fonts and published over 150 books that brought him financial success and 7–6. Laurentius de Rubeis, printer’s artistic renown. The characters in Jenson’s fonts aligned more mark, 1482. This orb and cross was perfectly than those of any other printer of his time. A rare designed in the town of Ferrara, example of a miniature publication from Jenson’s press is the located about 90 kilometers (55 miles) 1475 edition of Incipit officium beate Marie virginus secundum 7–6 southwest of Venice. consuetudinem romane curie (Little Office of the Virgin Mary). Its elaborately decorated borders and initial letters reflect 7–7. Pere Miguel, printer’s mark, contemporary illuminated manuscripts of the period (Figs. 1494. Dozens of incunabula printers 7–3 and 7–4). Before Jenson’s death in 1480, Pope Sixtus IV adopted an orb-and-cross mark. bestowed upon him the title of Count Palatine for his reli- Miguel worked in Barcelona, Spain. gious publications. Many early printers designed trademarks to identify their books (Figs. 7–5 through 7–7). As noted by graphic designer Lance Hidy, these emblems bear witness to the revived atten- tion to Egyptian hieroglyphics during the Renaissance. At the time, hieroglyphics were erroneously believed to be entirely ideographic and not phonetic. This resulted in the design of symbols and heraldry that are forerunners to those used in modern graphic design. Renaissance designers had a strong preference for floral decoration. Wildflowers and vines were applied to furniture, architecture, and manuscripts. Books continued to be a 7–7 08_9780470168738-ch07.indd 99 9/9/11 7:27 PM  100 Chapter 07: Renaissance Graphic Design collaboration between the typographic printer—in the incu- nabula period typography was sometimes called artificial writ- ing—and the illuminator, who added initials and ornaments. The logical next step was to print everything on a printing press. Erhard Ratdolt (1442–1528) took significant steps toward the totally printed book. A master printer from Augsburg, Germany, Ratdolt worked in Venice from 1476 until 1486. Working closely with his partners, Bernhard Maler and Peter Loeslein, in 1476 Ratdolt printed the Calendarium (Record Book) by Regiomontanus, a second version of an earlier and inferior edition printed while Ratdolt was still in Augsburg. This was the first book with a complete title page used to identify a book and most likely the first book printed in more than one color in one press run (Fig. 7–8). In addition to the innovative title page, Calendarium contained sixty diagrams of solar and lunar eclipses printed in yellow and black (Fig. 7–9). In the rear of the book are three-part mathematical wheel charts for calculating the solar cycles (Figs. 7–10 and 7–11). During this time, fear and superstition were being swept away as scientists began to understand natural phenomena, and eclipses moved from black magic to predictable fact. Printers disseminated this knowledge, and Calendarium was largely a result of Ratdolt’s interest in mathematics and astronomy. Yet another innovation by Ratdolt was the way woodcut borders and initials were used as design elements. These decorative features included naturalistic forms inspired by Western antiquity and patterned forms derived from the Eastern Islamic cultures. Bernhard Maler (also called Pictor) is assumed to be the designer of Ratdolt’s borders. Both fine- line ornaments and reversed designs (white forms on a solid background) were used; sometimes these were printed in red 7–8 ink. A three-sided woodcut border used on the title page for a number of Ratdolt’s editions became a kind of trademark. 7–8. Erhard Ratdolt, Peter Loeslein, 7–10. Erhard Ratdolt, Peter Loeslein, It appears on the title page of Euclid’s Geometriae elementa and Bernhard Maler, title page for and Bernhard Maler, pages from (Elements of Geometry) of 1482 (Fig. 7–12). The design Calendarium, by Regiomontanus, Calendarium, by Regiomontanus, format uses a large outer margin about half as wide as the 1476. The title and author are identi- 1476. The two top circles are printed text column width (Fig. 7–13). Small geometric figures, whose fied in verse describing the book. on heavy paper, cut out, and mounted sheer delicacy of line represents a technical breakthrough, are The date and printers’ names in Latin over the larger woodcut with tape placed in the margins adjacent to the supporting text. appear below. and a string. This may be the first When Ratdolt left Venice and moved back to his native “die-cut” and manual tip-in graphic Augsburg, he publicized his return by issuing the first print- 7–9. Erhard Ratdolt, Peter Loeslein, material in a printed book. er’s type specimen sheet that showed his range of typographic and Bernhard Maler, page for Calen- sizes and styles. Ratdolt remained an active printer until his darium, by Regiomontanus, 1476. A 7–11. Erhard Ratdolt, Peter Loeslein, death at age eighty-one. The innovations of Ratdolt and his grid of metal rules brings order and and Bernhard Maler, pages from Cal- partners during his decade in Venice were not immediately legibility to this record of past and endarium, by Regiomontanus, 1476. adopted by other Venetian printers, however. The full flower- future eclipses. An additional three-part mathematical ing of graphic decoration in the printed book did not begin wheel charts for calculating the solar until the turn of the century. cycles. The Ars Moriendi (Art of Dying) was a best seller during the fifteenth century. At least sixty-five editions, including manuscripts, block books, and typographic books, were produced before 1501. An edition published on 28 April 1478 by the Italian printers Giovanni and Alberto Alvise in Verona is believed to be the first design that used printers’ flowers (fleurons), which are decorative elements cast like type. The Verona Ars Moriendi used these as graphic elements in the title 08_9780470168738-ch07.indd 100 9/9/11 7:27 PM  Graphic design of the Italian Renaissance 101 7–9 7–12 7–10 7–13 7–12. Erhard Ratdolt, Peter Loeslein, and Bernhard Maler, pages from Euclid’s Geometriae elementa, 1482. A dazzling white-on-black design brackets the text, and incredibly fine line diagrams in the wide margin visu- ally define Euclid’s terms. The color in the decorative border and initial was added later by hand. 7–11 7–13. Erhard Ratdolt, Peter Loeslein, and Bernhard Maler, pages from Euclid’s Geometriae elementa, 1482. The wide outer margin is maintained throughout the book for explanatory diagrams. Two sizes of initial letters denote sections and subsections. 08_9780470168738-ch07.indd 101 9/9/11 7:27 PM  102 Chapter 07: Renaissance Graphic Design 7–14. Giovanni and Alberto Alvise, page design and as fillers in short lines that left blank areas in title page from Ars Moriendi, 1478. the text blocks (Fig. 7–14). The vocabulary of graphic design pos- It is quite possible that a printer identified as Johannes sibilities was expanded by the design Nicolai de Verona, who printed a manual on warfare entitled and casting of metal decorative orna- De Re Militari (About Warfare), by Roberto Valturio, in 1472, ments that, along with the type, could was Giovanni Alvise. The light contour style of woodblock be composed as part of the page. illustration used in De Re Militari initiated the fine-line style that became popular in Italian graphic design during the later 7–15. Manuscript book of Roberto decades of the fifteenth century. Valturio’s De Re Militari, undated. A fascinating manuscript copy of De Re Militari (Figs. 7–15 Freely drawn in brown pen-and-ink, and 7–16) shows the relationship between the typographic the illustrations have brown and ocher book and the manuscript books used as exemplars or layouts. washes applied. This manuscript book is written in semi-Gothic script but has marginal corrections in a roman hand. Because these correc- 7–14 7–16. Johannes Nicolai de Verona tions were incorporated by the printer, it is believed that this (printer), pages from Roberto Valtu- manuscript version was corrected by the author. Then, it was rio’s De Re Militari, 1472. Detail and used as corrected copy by the compositors, as a layout by the gestural line quality are lost in the blockcutters, and as a guide for page design and makeup by translation from manuscript original to the pressman. printed volume, but the basic layout This extraordinary book is a compendium of the latest remains the same. techniques and devices (many imaginary) for scaling walls, catapulting missiles, ramming fortifications, and torturing enemies. The text is set in a tight column with wide outer margins, and the freely shaped images spread across the pages in dynamic asymmetrical layouts. In the spread showing bat- tering rams, the repetition of the towers and rams’ heads gives the pages a lively visual rhythm. Medieval Christianity fostered a belief that the value of a human life was primarily its effect on God’s judgment after death. A turning away from medieval beliefs toward a new concern for human potential and value characterized Renais- sance humanism, a philosophy of human dignity and worth that defined man as capable of using reason and scientific inquiry to achieve both an understanding of the world and self-meaning. This new spirit was accompanied by a renewed study of classical writings from Greek and Roman cultures. An important humanist and scholar of the Italian Renaissance, 7–15 Aldus Manutius (1450–1515), established a printing press in Venice at age forty-five to realize his vision of publishing the major works of the great thinkers of the Greek and Roman worlds. Important scholars and skilled technical personnel were recruited to staff his Aldine Press, which rapidly became known for its editorial authority and scholarship. The first book issued by the Aldine Press was an introduction to Greek grammar with alternate Latin texts, and between 1494 and 1498, a five-volume edition of Aristotle was published. A most important member of the Aldine staff was Frances- co da Bologna, surnamed Griffo (1450–1518). Manutius called this brilliant typeface designer and punch cutter to Venice, where he cut roman, Greek, Hebrew, and the first italic types for Aldine editions. His initial project in Venice was a roman face for De Aetna (Fig. 7–17) by Pietro Bembo, in 1495. Griffo researched pre-Caroline scripts to produce a roman type that was more authentic than Jenson’s designs. This style survives today as the book text face Bembo. 7–16 08_9780470168738-ch07.indd 102 9/9/11 7:27 PM  Graphic design of the Italian Renaissance 103 While in Germany the fifteenth century closed with Koberger and Dürer creating a technical and artistic master- piece in The Apocalypse (see Fig. 6–18), in Italy Aldus Manutius ended the epoch with his 1499 edition of Fra Francesco Colonna’s Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (The Strife of Love in a Dream or The Dream of Poliphilus) (Figs. 7–18 through 7–22). This romantic and rather tedious fantasy tells of young Poliphilus’s wandering quest for his lover, who has taken a vow to preserve her chastity; the journey takes him through classical landscapes and architectural environments. This celebration of paganism—with erotic overtones and a few explicit illustrations—probably escaped scandal only because of its high cost and limited Venetian audience. A masterpiece of graphic design, Manutius’s Hypnerotoma- chia Poliphili achieved an elegant harmony of typography and illustration that has seldom been equaled. The communica- tive coordination of the illustrations with the text and the 7–18 exceptional integration of images and typography indicate that the printer, type designer, author, and artist worked in close 7–17. Aldus Manutius, from Pietro Bembo’s De Aetna, 1495–96. As the model for Garamond in the sixteenth century, this typeface became the prototype for two centuries of European typographic design. 7–18. Aldus Manutius, typographic page from Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, 1499. The texture of the headings (set in all capitals), the text typography, and the outline initial have a subtle yet beautiful contrast. The one-line 7–19 intervals of space separating the in- 7–17 formation into three areas introduces light and order into the page. 7–19. Aldus Manutius, illustrated