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alternate format labels: 1o

broadsheet

Connecticut, Proclamation, 1783

If you look closely at this broadside, you might see that the text at the top and bottom have light shadows---a faint double impression caused by an accidental bounce of the paper on the inked type

Faithorne, A perpetuall ephemeris (1655)

Although engraved and etched plates in books tend to be primarily of images, intaglio techniques can also be used to write text, as in this perpetual calendar. For more on how this calendar works, see Erin Blake's post "Happy New Year's E" in The Collation.

Gianicolo, Type specimen, 1529 (recto)

This specimen sheet features only a font of italic type, but in a visually attractive demonstration of its possibilities.

Gianicolo, Type specimen, 1529 (verso)

There is very little bleed-through apparent on this blank verso, although it's hard to tell if it is due to how this broadsheet was printed or how it was photographed.

Guyot, Type specimen, 1565

Specimen sheets are used by type-casters to show examples of the fonts they have for sale. This one shows work from François Guyot, a type-caster in Antwerp, and was used to sell his wares in England, as evidenced by the manuscript notes in English secretary hand. Careful sleuthing comparing these typefaces to those used in dated texts and to surviving records from the Plantin printing shop identified Guyot and the likely date of 1565. For more on those details, see this post from the Folger's

Indulgence, Augsburg, 1481 (recto)

In addition to the intentional blanks filled in with the date and what may be the names of the recipients of this indulgence (Sigismundo and possibly his wife Anna), there are several corrections interpolated among the lines—they appear to largely be shifts in verb tense and pronouns, maybe to reflect that this indulgence is being presented to two people, rather than one. The interweaving of print and handwriting in this form reflects how in this earliest era of print use in Europe, there was a need for scribes as well as printers.

Indulgence, Augsburg, 1481 (verso)

On the back side of this indulgence, you can see the creases where it was folded up for safekeeping and the later repair work done to stabilize it.

Indulgence, Nuremberg, 1482

This form is an indulgence granted for "promoting the war against the Turks," in a variant designed specifically for women. The handwritten portion in the upper right corner fills in the name of the recipient, Cristina Schuczin, and her diocese, Bamberg. Indulgence forms like this one, combining print and manuscript elements, were some of the first widespread uses of printing in the Middle Ages.

James I, By the King, 1611

This broadside uses gothic type (or black letter as the English often called it) for the main text of its announcement, as is typical for official English documents, with roman type setting off the names of the escapees.

Keimer, Elegy, 1723 (1r)

Because broadsides weren't typically bound into books but rather distributed as single sheets, they often have very high loss rates. This is the only known copy of Keimer's Elegy, which Benjamin Franklin describes in his Autobiography as having unusually been composed as Keimer set the type. This was the first work that Keimer published in America, and Franklin's first known printing job in Philadelphia.

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Browse by going through all the images or all the tags, or by following the main tags below. To learn more about what the various features mean, click on the tag and read the description at the top of the page.

main printed features

  • advertisement
  • blank
  • book making
  • colophon
  • correction
  • error
  • form
  • frontispiece
  • imprimatur
  • index
  • initial letter
  • intaglio
  • movable parts
  • music
  • press figure
  • printed marginalia
  • printer's device
  • printer's ornament
  • privilege
  • register
  • signature mark
  • subscribers list
  • title page
  • two-color printing
  • woodcut

date published

  • 1450-1499
  • 1500-1549
  • 1550-1599
  • 1600-1649
  • 1650-1699
  • 1700-1749
  • 1750-1800

place printed

  • Belgium
  • Czech Republic
  • England
  • France
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Mexico
  • Netherlands
  • Peru
  • Poland
  • Russia
  • Scotland
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • Ukraine
  • United States
Sarah Werner. "alternate format labels: 1o." Early Printed Books. https://www.earlyprintedbooks.com/alternate_format_labels/1o/. Version 20190429.
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