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library: Houghton Library

Houghton Library, Harvard University (USA)

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, Church Slavic, 1581 (fol. 78v)

The colophon identifies Ivan Fedorov of Moscow as the printer (his device appears just above the colophon) and that it was completed in 1581 on August 12 in Ostroh. Like the text above it, the colophon is in parallel columns of Greek and Church Slavic.

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.

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.

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.

Prouisiones cedulas, 1563 (a1r)

The title of this collection of Spanish colonial laws is surrounded by four separate woodcuts used as borders, as well as a cut of the Spanish coat of arms.

Prouisiones cedulas, 1563 (m2r)

Two different styles of the initial letter D can be seen here, the first quite plain and the second floriated.

Ruban, Kratkaia letopis Malaia Rrossiia, 1777 (И5)

The 6 in the headline's 1736 and the 6 in the same date in the third line of the text both are missing the same area of print on the bottom of the number. It can't be the same piece of type, since both 6s need to be in the forme simultaneously. But perhaps the matrix used to cast the 6s in this font didn't have a deep enough strike to cast the number correctly.

Ruban, Kratkaia letopis Malyia Rossii, 1777 (π1r)

This title page spells out the book's contents in detail: "A Short Chronicle of Little Russia from 1506 to 1776, with the appearance of the present image of the local government, and with the appendix of the list of the Hetmans, the General Elders, Colonels and hierarchs; such that descriptions include indications of cities, rivers, monasteries, churches, the number of people, news about the Post [as in mail] and other necessary information."

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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. "library: Houghton Library." Early Printed Books. https://www.earlyprintedbooks.com/library/houghton/. Version 20190429.
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