first edition Hardcover
1548 · Rome
by CALLIGRAPHY. Palatino, Giovanni Battista (ca.1515-ca.1575)
Rome: in Campo di Fiore, per Antonio Blado Asolano, il mese di Luglio, 1548. EIGHTH EDITION, THE THIRD WITH PALATINO’S REVISIONS AND ADDITIONS. The first edition of Palatino’s manual was printed in 1540 by Bernardo Giunta. In 1545, Antonio Blado printed a new edition, revised and expanded by Palatino, which he then reprinted in 1547. This is the third edition of the expanded text. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in original 16th c. calfskin, the boards with a central ornament, gilt, and framed by two gilt filets (corners bumped, discreet repairs to corners and hinges.) A very fine copy, ruled in red throughout. Small ink spots on four leaves, two early inscriptions on title, clean tear to one blank margin mended. For the 1545 edition, upon which this edition is modeled, Palatino added fifteen new pages demonstrating five additional writing styles: “lettera rognosa, tagliata, notaresca, Fiammenga, e moderna” and a new dedication to Cardinal Rodolfo Pio of Carpi, patron of the arts. The original privilege granted by Pope Paul III in 1540 is printed on the 2nd leaf. Illustrated with a large oval woodcut portrait of Palatino on the title, the author’s emblematic device on last page, a full-page woodcut showing writing implements and related equipment, and more than 80 full-page woodcuts of alphabets and writing samples in a wide variety of scripts (including Greek, Hebrew, Chaldean, Ethiopic, Syrian, Cyrillic, and Arabic) as well as rebuses, another sample page showing 2 sizes of rotunda type with upper and lowercase alphabets and woodcut decorative initials. Most of the text pages and writing samples are framed by double-rules, a few have decorative woodcut frames.
Originally published with the title, “Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere” (“A new book for learning to write”), Palatino’s writing manual was an immediate success. In extent and variety of scripts, Palatino's book is more ambitious than Arrighi and Taglienti's pioneering manuals of the 1520s. With this manual Palatino quickly established himself as the most famous and influential writing master of his day.
In comparison with the earlier manuals of Ludovico degli Arrighi (1522) and Giovanni Antonio Tagliente (1524), Palatino’s stands out for the quality of the woodcuts, the quantity and variety of letter forms, the inclusion of both ancient and contemporary models, and its international character. Palatino includes his own personal variations and creative interpretations, sometimes to great effect, which reflect the artistic disposition with which he approaches the subject.
The first edition was printed at Rome in August 1540 by Bernardo Giunta for the publisher Baldassare Cartolari. The second Cartolari edition (1543) and the third (1544) were printed anonymously for Baldassare’s widow, Girolama. In 1545 Antonio Blado printed an expanded 1545 edition, which included 15 additional woodblocks and more exotic alphabets.
Palatino presents examples of chancery, mercantile, and bastard hands, as well as regional and non-Italian styles (Spanish, German, French, Flemish, etc). There is an abundance of non-Roman alphabets and scripts, including Hebrew, Chaldean, Arabic, Greek, Egyptian, Syrian, and Cyrillic. The inclusion of cipher alphabets (“lettere cifrate”) and a short tract entitled “Delle Cifre” (“On Cyphers”) make the book notable for its contributions to the history of cryptography. Palatino also includes a playful rebus in verse and a page of “Lettera Mancina” (the mirror-writing made famous by Leonardo).
The illustration of the instruments for writing:
Palatino, following the example of the writing master Giovanni Antonio Tagliente (d. 1528), included a now famous and often reproduced full-page woodcut showing the tools for writing, and a chapter explaining how to make and use them. Palatino describes the making of ink, the proper construction, cutting, and tempering of the pen -including which feathers (goose) make the best quills for writing chancery script; the use of the compass, stylus, and mirror (to conserve one’s eyesight), the making of varnish from powdered eggshells, and how to apply it (with a rabbit’s foot), etc.
For some reason, Palatino felt it necessary to explain and defend his decision to include this chapter. He writes:
“It is not (as it may seem to some) superfluous or a detriment [for me] to have added the table and image showing all the instruments necessary for a good writer. For I believe that no one will deny that it is almost impossible to do well and perfectly any exercise one wishes to do without the necessary and suitable instruments, and although it seems that these are things known to everyone, we should not for this reason ignore them, since our intent in all this work (as I believe it is for everyone who writes in any profession) is to teach and help those who do not know, nor would I believe that those who know would be offended by this, or that one should be blamed for it.”
Despite Palatino’s subsequent fame, very little is known of his early life. He was a native of Rossano in Calabria. He was active in Roman intellectual circles and by 1538, the year in which he obtained Roman citizenship, he was employed both as a writing-master and an apostolic notary. “He was a skillful draughtsman, supplementing his earnings with free-lance design work. We know that he was also a fair chess-player, a composer of occasional poetry, some of which has survived, and fond of good living ... He died soon after 1575, most probably in Naples.”(Osley, Luminario, pp. 82-96). The inscription above the central arch of the Porta del Popolo (ca. 1565) is attributed to Palatino.
For translations in English, see 1. Palatino, Giovanni Battista, Tinstruments of writing, translated by Henry K. Pierce; which includes a partial translation of Ludovico degli Arrighi’s “The method of cutting a pen” Rome, 1523 by Erich A. O’D. Taylor (Newport, R.I.: Berry Hill Press, c1953). 2. Palatino, Giovanni Battista, “The tools of handwriting: from Palatino’s writing manual of 1540, Un nuovo modo d’imparare”, introduced, translated, & printed by A. S. Osley (Wormley: Glade Press, 1972). (Inventory #: 5209)
Originally published with the title, “Libro nuovo d’imparare a scrivere” (“A new book for learning to write”), Palatino’s writing manual was an immediate success. In extent and variety of scripts, Palatino's book is more ambitious than Arrighi and Taglienti's pioneering manuals of the 1520s. With this manual Palatino quickly established himself as the most famous and influential writing master of his day.
In comparison with the earlier manuals of Ludovico degli Arrighi (1522) and Giovanni Antonio Tagliente (1524), Palatino’s stands out for the quality of the woodcuts, the quantity and variety of letter forms, the inclusion of both ancient and contemporary models, and its international character. Palatino includes his own personal variations and creative interpretations, sometimes to great effect, which reflect the artistic disposition with which he approaches the subject.
The first edition was printed at Rome in August 1540 by Bernardo Giunta for the publisher Baldassare Cartolari. The second Cartolari edition (1543) and the third (1544) were printed anonymously for Baldassare’s widow, Girolama. In 1545 Antonio Blado printed an expanded 1545 edition, which included 15 additional woodblocks and more exotic alphabets.
Palatino presents examples of chancery, mercantile, and bastard hands, as well as regional and non-Italian styles (Spanish, German, French, Flemish, etc). There is an abundance of non-Roman alphabets and scripts, including Hebrew, Chaldean, Arabic, Greek, Egyptian, Syrian, and Cyrillic. The inclusion of cipher alphabets (“lettere cifrate”) and a short tract entitled “Delle Cifre” (“On Cyphers”) make the book notable for its contributions to the history of cryptography. Palatino also includes a playful rebus in verse and a page of “Lettera Mancina” (the mirror-writing made famous by Leonardo).
The illustration of the instruments for writing:
Palatino, following the example of the writing master Giovanni Antonio Tagliente (d. 1528), included a now famous and often reproduced full-page woodcut showing the tools for writing, and a chapter explaining how to make and use them. Palatino describes the making of ink, the proper construction, cutting, and tempering of the pen -including which feathers (goose) make the best quills for writing chancery script; the use of the compass, stylus, and mirror (to conserve one’s eyesight), the making of varnish from powdered eggshells, and how to apply it (with a rabbit’s foot), etc.
For some reason, Palatino felt it necessary to explain and defend his decision to include this chapter. He writes:
“It is not (as it may seem to some) superfluous or a detriment [for me] to have added the table and image showing all the instruments necessary for a good writer. For I believe that no one will deny that it is almost impossible to do well and perfectly any exercise one wishes to do without the necessary and suitable instruments, and although it seems that these are things known to everyone, we should not for this reason ignore them, since our intent in all this work (as I believe it is for everyone who writes in any profession) is to teach and help those who do not know, nor would I believe that those who know would be offended by this, or that one should be blamed for it.”
Despite Palatino’s subsequent fame, very little is known of his early life. He was a native of Rossano in Calabria. He was active in Roman intellectual circles and by 1538, the year in which he obtained Roman citizenship, he was employed both as a writing-master and an apostolic notary. “He was a skillful draughtsman, supplementing his earnings with free-lance design work. We know that he was also a fair chess-player, a composer of occasional poetry, some of which has survived, and fond of good living ... He died soon after 1575, most probably in Naples.”(Osley, Luminario, pp. 82-96). The inscription above the central arch of the Porta del Popolo (ca. 1565) is attributed to Palatino.
For translations in English, see 1. Palatino, Giovanni Battista, Tinstruments of writing, translated by Henry K. Pierce; which includes a partial translation of Ludovico degli Arrighi’s “The method of cutting a pen” Rome, 1523 by Erich A. O’D. Taylor (Newport, R.I.: Berry Hill Press, c1953). 2. Palatino, Giovanni Battista, “The tools of handwriting: from Palatino’s writing manual of 1540, Un nuovo modo d’imparare”, introduced, translated, & printed by A. S. Osley (Wormley: Glade Press, 1972). (Inventory #: 5209)
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