Object description:This item is a book, more properly an incunabulum (a name to refer to the earliest products of printing from 1450 to 1500). It was printed in Venice by Aldo Manuzio and it’s made of 243 carte.
Why we considered it: The original edition of Hypnerotomachia from 1499 is the typographic masterpiece of Aldo Manuzio, who is considered to be one of the greatest editors of all times for bringing up innovations like the cursive writing. So we first wanted to mention this figure that was important for Italy as Gutenberg was for Germany. This book is also evaluated as the most beautiful book in print history. One of the reason was the typographic clarity, obtained using a roman type engraved by Francesco Griffo. Moreover, the book is illustrated with 169 marvelous xylographies, perfectly balanced with the types used for the text. This to say that printing revolution is not only about technology and dissemination of knowledge, but also about print as an art form in itself.
Standard used: ICCU uses ISBD content standard and also provides UNIMARC and MARC21 records for this item.