Aldo Manutius was the most influential printer of the Italian Renaissance. Like his contemporaries Sebastian Gryphius in Lyons and Christopher Plantin in Antwerp, he published numerous editions of the Classics, among other texts, and did so in volumes of a smaller format than had been common during the incunabula period. Aldines have always been sought after and are a valued part of any library. Collectors have also often succumbed to the desire to dress up their Aldine editions, perhaps because the small format made these books good candidates for elegant but affordable new bindings.
This sampling of Aldines from Princeton's collection constitutes a small history of European bookbinding in itself, spanning 500 years.
Italian, sixteenth century
The majority of Aldine editions were first offered for sale in simple laced parchment bindings.
| Author: | Machiavelli, Niccolò, 1469-1527 |
| Title: | Historie di Nicolò Machiavelli. |
| Published: | Venice: Casa de'figliuoli di Aldo, 1540. |
| Location: | Rare Books: Grenville Kane Collection (ExKa) |
| Call number: | Special 1540 Machiavelli |
| Spine height: | 17 cm |
Italian, fifteenth century
A contemporary panel-stamped binding on a small book of hours
| Author: | Catholic Church |
| Title: | [Book of hours. Greek]. |
| Published: | Venice: Aldo Manuzio, 1497. |
| Location: | Scheide Library (WHS) |
| Call number: | Scheide 5.3.3 |
| Spine height: | 13 cm |
Italian, sixteenth century
A sixteenth-century binding style that appears frequently on Aldine editions.
| Author: | Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321 |
| Title: | Dante col sito, et forma dell'inferno. |
| Published: | Venice: Aldo Manuzio & Andreas Torresanus, 1515. |
| Location: | Rare Books (Ex) |
| Call number: | 3127.33.1049 |
| Spine height: | 16 cm |
Italian, sixteenth century
An Italian gold-tooled goatskin binding of the sixteenth century.
| Author: | Cicero, Marcus Tullius |
| Title: | [Correspondence]. |
| Published: | Venice: Aldo Manuzio & Andreas Torresanus, 1513. |
| Location: | Rare Books (Ex) |
| Call number: | 2837.1513 |
| Spine height: | 17 cm |
French, sixteenth century
An Aldine from the library of the sixteenth-century French book collector Jean Grolier.
| Author: | Virgil |
| Title: | Virgilius |
| Published: | Venice: Sons of Aldo Manuzio, 1541 |
| Location: | Rare Books: Junius Morgan Collection (VRG) |
| Call number: | 2945.1541 |
| Spine height: | 17 cm |
American, nineteenth century
In the 1890s, finisher Frank Mansell at the Club Bindery in New York created a retrospective Grolier binding on this Virgil.
| Author: | Virgil |
| Title: | Virgilius. |
| Published: | Venice: Aldo Manuzio & Andreas Torresanus, 1514. |
| Location: | Rare Books: Junius Morgan Collection (VRG) |
| Call number: | 2945.1519.2 |
| Spine height: | 17 cm |
England, eighteenth century
An eighteenth-century English binding.
| Author: | Virgil |
| Title: | Vergilivs |
| Published: | Venice: Aldo Manuzio, 1501. |
| Location: | Rare Books: Junius Morgan Collection (VRG) |
| Call number: | 2945.1501 c.4 |
| Spine height: | 18 cm |
England, nineteenth century
An early nineteenth-century English binding in the style of Roger Payne.
| Author: | Virgil |
| Title: | Vergilius. |
| Published: | Venice: Aldo Manuzio, 1501. |
| Location: | Rare Books: Junius Morgan Collection (VRG) |
| Call number: | 2945.1501 c.3 |
| Spine height: | 18 cm |
American, nineteenth century
A late nineteenth-century binding for the American collector, Robert Hoe.
| Author: | Virgil |
| Title: | Vergilivs |
| Published: | Venice: Aldo Manuzio, 1501. |
| Location: | Rare Books: Junius Morgan Collection (VRG) |
| Call number: | 2945.1501 |
| Spine height: | 18 cm |
French, nineteenth century
A nineteenth-century French binding by Trautz-Bauzonnet.
| Author: | Dante Alighieri |
| Title: | Le terze rime di Dante. |
| Published: | Venice: Aldo Manuzio,1502. |
| Location: | Scheide Library (WHS) |
| Call number: | Scheide 12.3.13 |
| Spine height: | 10 cm |