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main printed feature: initial letter

New sections of a text were often marked off with decorative initial letters. In the early years of printing, such letters were often added in by hand, and so the printed text would leave an empty space for it, sometimes including a guide letter to let the decorator know which one to draw. Later books used printed initial letters in a variety of styles, including historiated initials depicting humans and floriated initials with flora.

Anatomical fugitive sheet (1573)

Anatomical studies of figures with movable flaps, like this one, were often printed as single sheets, and have come to be referred to as "fugitive" sheets since they stand alone outside of a fixed codex. This fugitive sheet shows a female figure with flaps that can be lifted to reveal her organs and skeleton. To see the flaps lifted, follow this shelmark link.

Anatomical fugitive sheet, flap 1 (1573)

In this view, with the top flap lifted up, you can see some of the interior organs, including lungs, heart, stomach, and intestines.

Anatomical fugitive sheet, flap 2 (1573)

With the second flap lifted, we can now see a layer of reproductive organs.

Anatomical fugitive sheet, flap 3 (1573)

With the final flap lifted, the figure's skeleton is revealed.

Balbi, Catholicon, 1460 (1r)

One of the first books to be printed, the 1460 Catholicon continues to be surrounded by uncertainty about exactly who made it and what processes were used. Although it was once assumed that Gutenberg printed the book, that is now doubted. And recent theory is that the book was not printed with individual pieces of movable type, but with cast two-line slugs of type, thus explaining the near exact later impressions printed in 1469 and 1472.

Banckes, Herball, 1552 (C7r)

This page uses a variety of typographical signals to set off the titles and accounts of the different herbs. From top to bottom you can see a fist, capitulum, fleuron, another fist and capitulum, and an initial letter.

Bible, Church Slavic, 1581 (fol. 1r)

The opening of Genesis is marked off with an elaborate woodcut headpiece, clearly separating the text of the Bible from the prefatory materials.

Bible, English, 1611 (A1r)

The King James Bible uses a complex typography to signal which words or phrases are not from the source material but have been added in translation (those in roman type), printed notes in roman type for cross referencing between different books, printed notes in italic for translation notes, and headnotes for each chapter providing summaries to help with quick navigation.

Bible, Massachuset, 1663 (A1r)

Though not credited, several Indigenous people were involved in the translation and production of the book, including James Printer, the first Indigenous American to work in a print shop. Eliot believed the Masschusett people would be more receptive to conversion if it was presented in their own language. In this way, the Eliot Bible was a physical tool of colonialism: a way to overcome the language barrier so that Indigenous people could receive the colonizer’s values, but not vice versa. On this page, one of the fleurons in the lower right section of the headpiece is upside-down, perhaps an error made in haste.

Boethius, Arithmetica, 1492 (2a1v)

The text of this edition begins "Incipiunt duo libri de Arthimetica" but the title of the book is taken not from this phrase, but from the title label on the previous page. The space for the initial letter, like others in this volume, has been left unfilled.

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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. "main printed feature: initial letter." Early Printed Books. https://www.earlyprintedbooks.com/feature/initial-letter/. Version 20190427.
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