Chapters 6 & 7

Chapter 6: The German Illustrated Book

Incunabula means “cradle” in Latin; fittingly, 17th century writers used the term as a name for the books Gutenberg printed with his typography up until the end of the 15th century. Broadsides, or single pages that were printed on only one side, evolved into posters, advertisements and newspapers. Albrecht Durer also lent value to illustrated books through his 1498 edition of “The Apocalypse,” with 32 16”x12” pages including 15 woodcut illustrations on each right-hand page; and through his 1525 book, “A Course in the Art of Measurement with Compass and Ruler,” his first book.

It was most interesting to read about the flourishing of typography and the boom of printing shops to the point that there were too many for them all to have enough business. It’s sort of amusing because it now seems so elementary or basic, but then it was such a huge new technology, and it’s not until one analyzes the effects of easy printing that one can see why it was such a fantastic achievement.

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Chapter 7: Renaissance of Graphic Design
This chapter focused on the renaissance of GD, or the transition of graphic design from the medieval times up to modern times. Venice was the powerhouse of typographic book design in Italy; de Spira had a 5-year monopoly on printing, and his innovative and attractive roman type (as well as France’s Jenson and his roman type) ushered in new fonts that closely resemble those we most use today. Floral decoration was used prominently on designs. Ratdolt made an impact as well with three-sided border illustrations, small geometric figures, and his best-selling “The Art of Dying.” The rapid boom of literacy allowed calligraphers to have new jobs of teaching newly literate people how to write when their old jobs were replaced by printing presses. Typographic printing had many effects, including reducing the cost of books/printed materials, spreading ideas and knowledge, stabilizing and unifying language, the helping literacy increase.

I really just enjoyed looking at the evolution of the many book pages pictured throughout this chapter; there were so many names and dates that it became more telling to look at the pictures and see the progress and changes in those than to read about them. It also was inspiring to see the different layouts and illustration styles that we rarely see today.

With the ability of typographic printing presses, how did illuminators keep up with the many sheets that were printed? I know many times woodblocks and carvings were used, but wouldn’t these wear down to the point that many copies of the carving be needed?