Aldine Press was the printing office started by Aldus Manutius in 1494 in Venice, from which were issued the celebrated Aldine editions of the classics of that time. The Aldine Press is famous in the history of typography, among other things, for the introduction of italics. The press was continued after Aldus death in 1515 by his wife and her father until his son Paolo (1512-1574) took over. His grandson Aldo then ran the firm until his death in 1597. The folder of newspaper web offset printing press Printing is an industrial process for production of texts and images, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. ... Aldus Manutius (1449/50 - February 6, 1515), the Latin form of Aldo Manuzio (born Teobaldo Mannucci) was the founder of the Aldine Press. ... Events January 25 - Alfonso II becomes King of Naples. ... Location within Italy Venice (Italian: Venezia), the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto and of the province of Venice, 45°26′ N 12°19′ E, population 271,663 (census estimate 2004-01-01). ... Typographic work Typography (from the Greek words typos = form and graphein = to write) is the art and technique of selecting and arranging type styles, point sizes, line lengths, line leading, character spacing, and word spacing for typeset applications. ... // Events June - Invasion of Persia by Sultan Selim I of the Ottoman Empire. ... Events April 11 - Battle of Ravenna. ... Events April 14 - Battle of Mookerheyde. ... Events 17 January - A court case in Guildford recorded evidence that a certain plot of land was used for playing “kreckett” (i. ...

Initial Innovations

The press was started by Aldus based on his love of classics, and at first printed new copies of Plato, Aristotle, and other Greek and Latin classics. He also printed dictionaries and grammars to help people interpret the books. Since most bibliophiles and book collectors come from academic and classical backgrounds, his first editions are collectors items. His contributions are also respected in the development of a smaller type than others in use. His contemporaries called it Aldine Type; today we call it italics.

The goal of the press was to create plentiful, affordable books so that everyone could have access to literature. When the press expanded to current titles, they wrote some books themselves and employed other writers, including Erasmus. As this expansion into current languages (mainly Italian and French) and current topics continued, the press took on another role and made perhaps even more important contributions. Their logo of the anchor and dolphin is represented today in the symbols and names used by some modern publishers. Desiderius Erasmus in 1523 Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (also Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, probably 1466 – July 12, 1536) was a Dutch humanist and theologian. ...

The Literacy Revolution

Gutenberg gets credit for inventing the printing press with some justification, but Aldus and his sons created the revolution. Gutenberg produced some beautiful volumes. They were priced so that a man of moderate wealth could buy a book. They were still large, heavy voumes and expensive. A church that had a Bible would typically chain it to a reading stand. Aldus created smaller books (called octavo) that could fit in a saddlebag and that the average merchant or craftsman could afford. This topic is considered to be an essential subject on Wikipedia. ... Aldus Manutius (1449/50 - February 6, 1515), the Latin form of Aldo Manuzio (born Teobaldo Mannucci) was the founder of the Aldine Press. ...

With books readily available, it was now worthwhile to learn to read. In dealing with current topics, the second or third edition is the better book. When Paolo or Aldo hired a great shipbuilder to write a book on shipbuilding, he described all the best techniques he was aware of. Other builders bought the book and then wrote to protest that their technique for a particular technology was better. Many of these improvements were then incorporated in the later editions. Before the Aldine Press, a new innovation might take a hundred years to get from Italy to the Netherlands. Afterward, information started to move in all directions, and communication times were reduced to five or six years. This is an important step in the modernization of Europe, and can even be viewed as a precursor of the Internet.