Skip to content
Early Printed Books

Early Printed Books

resources for learning and teaching

  • About
    • Contributors
    • Permissions &c
    • Privacy
    • FAQ
    • Contact
    • Changelog
  • Get Started
  • Browse Images
    • Browse Tags
    • Search the Site
  • Resources
  • The Book
    • Errata List
  • Featured Content

main printed feature: title page

The presence and design of title pages evolved over the hand-press period. In the earliest years of printing, the title of a work was indicated with an “incipit” (from the Latin indicating “here begins”). Those turned into brief labels of the title printed on the first page of a work, and then to increasingly elaborate first pages that named the author, the book’s title, where it was printed, who the printers were, and when it was printed. Eventually elaborate title pages were protected by a preceding leaf which might be blank, have a brief title (a half-title page), or an illustration (a frontispiece).

Alciati, Emblemata, 1542 (A1r)

Chrestian Wechsel's printer's device is here fittingly shown on the title page of his edition of Alciati's Emblemata, which he printed in close conversation with the author. The device is adapted from the emblem "Virtuti Fortuna comes" or "Good fortune attendant on virtue."

Ames, Typographical antiquities, 1749 ([A]1r)

This title page carefully uses a combination of gothic, roman, black, and red letters to evoke the earlier printing that is its subject while still looking enticingly contemporary.

Apian, Cosmographicus, 1524 (π1r)

This title page for the first edition of Peter Apian's Cosmographicus has been printed in both black and red ink.

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 (A1r)

The bulk of this title page is taken up with a long, descriptive title for the work that today we often refer to simply as "Banckes's Herbal."

Beaumont and Fletcher, Philaster, 1661 (A1r)

This title-page shows an impressive array of bracket styles, joining together both the two theaters and the two authors.

Behn, Widdow Ranter, 1690 (A1r)

In a style more typical of the late 17th century than earlier playbooks, this title page provides only a relatively short title and the barest of acting company and authorial information along with the imprint.

Bible, Church Slavic, 1581 (title page)

The Ostroh Bible is the first complete edition of the Bible printed in Cyrillic, made at the behest of Prince Konstantin Ostrogski.

Bible, English, 1611 (πA1r)

The title page for the Authorized version of the Bible is completely engraved, including the title and imprint information, by Cornelius Boel, whose name appears in the bottom left of the image. (This version is more commonly known as the King James Bible, since James authorized it to be translated and placed in all churches.)

Bijns, Refereyn, 1611 (A1r)

This lengthy title page provides the author's name, imprint and privilege statements, and a description of the book's contents.

Posts navigation

Page 1 Page 2 … Page 5 Next page

browsing

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: title page." Early Printed Books. https://www.earlyprintedbooks.com/feature/title-page/. Version 20191015.
Creative Commons License
Early Printed Books is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated. For more information, see Permissions.