Aldus Pius Manutius (1449/1452 ? – 6 February 1515) was an Italian humanist, scholar, educator, and the founder of the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preservation of Greek manuscripts mark him as an innovative publisher of his age dedicated to the editions he produced. His enchiridia, small portable books, revolutionized personal reading and are the predecessor of the modern paperback.
*”Aldus ensured the survival of a large number of ancient texts and greatly facilitated the diffusion of the values, enthusiasms, and scholarship of Italian Renaissance Humanism to the rest of Europe”. “He jettisoned commentary because he felt that it prevented the dialogue between author and reader that the Renaissance prized.”*
During is time, most books were printed using blackletter fonts. Manutius commissioned typefaces designed to look like the handwriting of humanists. [Bembo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bembo) is based on a design cut around 1495 by Francesco Griffo for him.
4 comments
Aldus Pius Manutius (1449/1452 ? – 6 February 1515) was an Italian humanist, scholar, educator, and the founder of the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preservation of Greek manuscripts mark him as an innovative publisher of his age dedicated to the editions he produced. His enchiridia, small portable books, revolutionized personal reading and are the predecessor of the modern paperback.
Before Manutius books were large, unwieldly volumes, meant to be read while sitting at a desk in a library or –if you were rich– at home. Manutius book were [comparatively very small](https://www.kalamalkapress.ca/bookexhibit/images/Aldus-closeup-600.jpg) and could be read anywhere. Not only: Manutius provided classics with side-by-side translation, commissioned new typefaces for both latin and [greek characters](https://www.typeroom.eu/assets/original/2020/02/06/Aldine_Press_Typeroom1.jpg) which greatly improved legibility and sometimes included [beautiful xilographies](https://ss-pics.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files/1022034/large-hypnerotomachia_poliphili_3.jpg?1580393201) in his editions.
*”Aldus ensured the survival of a large number of ancient texts and greatly facilitated the diffusion of the values, enthusiasms, and scholarship of Italian Renaissance Humanism to the rest of Europe”. “He jettisoned commentary because he felt that it prevented the dialogue between author and reader that the Renaissance prized.”*
Check more [at wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldus_Manutius), and one of the most famous came out of Manutius’ printing press, [Hypnerotomachia poliphili](https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/library/files/special/exhibns/month/feb2004.html).
Isn’t ever book portable?
Here’s a picture of someone holding a Gutenberg Bible so you can see why early printed books weren’t portable:
https://christiantoday.com/article/the.bible.and.the.printed.word.of.god.how.johannes.gutenberg.changed.the.world.forever/112432.htm
Here’s a picture of someone holding a book by Manutius for comparison:
https://www.kalamalkapress.ca/bookexhibit/aldus.html
During is time, most books were printed using blackletter fonts. Manutius commissioned typefaces designed to look like the handwriting of humanists. [Bembo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bembo) is based on a design cut around 1495 by Francesco Griffo for him.
Also Manutius invented [italic type](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italic_type).