Aldo Manuzio
Medal
after 1503 (made)
after 1503 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is a bronze medal made in Venice, Italy, after 1503. The obverse of this medal represents the bust of Aldo Manuzio the elder.
Aldus Pius Manutius (Bassiano, 1449 – Venice, February 6, 1515) — also called Aldus Manutius, the Elder was an Italian humanist who became a printer and publisher. He founded the Aldine Press at Venice. Manuzio draws a block capital which gets closer to the handwritten writing, and calls it italics type. It takes less space on paper than the usual characters. He also invented a new format for books that was smaller thus creating the forerunner of our pocket-sized books. The books at the time were big and heavy, so Aldo had the idea to fold the big sheets of paper into 8, which then creates 16 printed pages. He called it octavo, as the book was eight times smaller. Aldo had chosen as his logo for the Aldine press an anchor and a dolphin, symbols of reliabilty and speed.
Aldus Pius Manutius (Bassiano, 1449 – Venice, February 6, 1515) — also called Aldus Manutius, the Elder was an Italian humanist who became a printer and publisher. He founded the Aldine Press at Venice. Manuzio draws a block capital which gets closer to the handwritten writing, and calls it italics type. It takes less space on paper than the usual characters. He also invented a new format for books that was smaller thus creating the forerunner of our pocket-sized books. The books at the time were big and heavy, so Aldo had the idea to fold the big sheets of paper into 8, which then creates 16 printed pages. He called it octavo, as the book was eight times smaller. Aldo had chosen as his logo for the Aldine press an anchor and a dolphin, symbols of reliabilty and speed.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Aldo Manuzio (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Bronze |
| Brief description | Medal, bronze, bust of Aldo Manuzio, Italian (Venice), after 1503. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | There is an electrotype copy of this medal (inv. no. 1857-89). It was bought from the Soulages collection in 1865. |
| Summary | This is a bronze medal made in Venice, Italy, after 1503. The obverse of this medal represents the bust of Aldo Manuzio the elder. Aldus Pius Manutius (Bassiano, 1449 – Venice, February 6, 1515) — also called Aldus Manutius, the Elder was an Italian humanist who became a printer and publisher. He founded the Aldine Press at Venice. Manuzio draws a block capital which gets closer to the handwritten writing, and calls it italics type. It takes less space on paper than the usual characters. He also invented a new format for books that was smaller thus creating the forerunner of our pocket-sized books. The books at the time were big and heavy, so Aldo had the idea to fold the big sheets of paper into 8, which then creates 16 printed pages. He called it octavo, as the book was eight times smaller. Aldo had chosen as his logo for the Aldine press an anchor and a dolphin, symbols of reliabilty and speed. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 715-1865 |
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| Record created | May 6, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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