The Art of printing in Venice

In the 15th Century the Venetian Republic reached the height of its expansion.

No European state could or would ever again boast such a great future and such a long period of continuity.

The “Serenissima” was particularly open to all religious philosophies, provided that none of these threatened its safety.

The first printers to arrive in Venice were German, followed by French, Flemish, Dutch, Swiss, Cretian and Istrian printers and many Italians.

A large group of “reformist Humanists” fled to Venice, and among them Aldo Manuzio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldus_Manutius

Freedom of the press was guaranteed and encouraged, especially because the expansion of printing had become a good source of income within a few years. The Venetian publishing industry not only relied on the collaboration of printers, but also encouraged them to experiment. In 1537, the Senate even imposed severe sanctions on publishers who used low-quality paper.

It is therefore logical to assume that authors saw Venice not only as the city where they could publish their works, but also as a place that offered the services needed to host them—along with, of course, the opportunity to discuss and compare their individual experiences.

Nearly 200 printing presses were operating in Venice toward the end of the 15th century (1488).

The art of printing was officially recognized in Venice on September 18, 1469—the day the Senate acknowledged that Johann von Speyer had introduced and developed the art in the city.

The “Guild of Printers and Booksellers” always met in the Dominican monastery of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (now the hospital).

The cultural climate enjoyed by printers in Venice was that of a city ready to embrace all schools of thought and various trends, filtering them and transforming them into its own distinctive heritage. A proper university was never established in Venice. There were, however, numerous cultural centers, such as the circle of the Hellenist Giovanni Lascaris and the schools of Rialto and San Marco, which offered lectures in moral philosophy and rhetoric (open only to the nobility).

There were important centers of intellectual discussion with splendid libraries attached to them in the monasteries of the churches of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Santo Stefano, San Francesco della Vigna, San Michele in Isola, and Sant’Antonio a Castello.

 

ALDUS MANUTIUS AND HIS MARK

Aldo Manuzio was not just a printer, but a true publisher. An extraordinarily learned man, he helped preserve many texts and achieved outstanding results.

His first workshop was in Calle del Pistor, at number 2343, near Campo Sant’Agostin; he later moved in 1508 to Calle San Paterniano, near what is now Campo Manin.

As a printer, he published the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili in 1499 for the publisher Leonardo Crasso in Verona.

He was also famous for creating his own typeface (font), probably with the help of the philosopher Luca Pacioli and the type designer Francesco Griffo.

Aldo Manuzio’s books were held in high regard and he received numerous accolades throughout Europe, but for this very reason they were also imitated and counterfeited by other publishers, particularly in Florence and Lyon.

His printing house became a literary circle. Aldo Manuzio was aware of his great responsibility: he summoned the most important humanists of the time in Italy to employ them as proofreaders (not just translators and copy editors, but true editors and editorial consultants).

Even his choice of paper—produced by the Fabriano paper mill (the best on the market), measuring 32 × 42 cm—led to remarkable results. Once folded in half, it produced a “folio” (32 × 21 cm); folded into quarters, a “quarto” (16 × 21 cm); and folded into eighths, an “octavo” (10.5 × 16 cm). Aldo Manuzio designed and began using the “octavo” format with great commercial success; in other words, he had already invented the paperback (pocket book or “enchiridion”) in the early years of the 16th century.

In May 1502, Aldo Manuzio founded an academy, the “Neacademia dei filelleni,” also known as the Aldine Academy. He encouraged commercial, collaborative, and friendly relationships with the finest minds of his time, and he was a highly prolific publisher.

Thanks to his experience, talent, and skill, the Senate appointed Aldo Manuzio as the official printer of the Republic of Venice on November 14, 1502, after he had been sponsored by Marin Sanudo the Younger (1466–1536).

It is universally accepted that his trademark (an anchor and a dolphin) refers to the motto “Festina lente” (“Make haste slowly”), attributed by Suetonius to Augustus.

Thanks to Franco Filippi

Source: The Art of printing in Venice by Franco Filippi (http://www.venicethefuture.com/schede/uk/323?aliusid=323)