From the Carmelite Archives
A gem from the Carmelite Library: an incunabulum from 1495

From the book depository of the General Carmelite Library, an elegant incunabulum printed in Brescia on September 13, 1495, has come to light. It was from the printer and bookseller Bernardino Misinta, active from 1490 to 1509 in Lombardy and Veneto.

The volume contains the Latin translation of the work De anima by the Greek philosopher and Aristotelian commentator Alexander of Aphrodisias (2nd-3rd centuries). The translation was done by the Venetian Girolamo Donati (1456-1511).

The incunabulum – from the Latin incunabulum, meaning in the cradle, to indicate the first books printed in the 15th century – does not yet feature the typical title page that would only appear from 1500 onwards, but an incipit page, very similar to those found in contemporary manuscripts, with a rubricated initial letter, larger in size, on a floral background, executed using the woodcut technique [photo 1]. Accompanying the text is a hand-drawn plant frieze that unfolds on three sides of the page, except for the bottom margin. The three stamps can be seen, including that of the Carmelite Library can be seen at the bottom [photo 1].

As was customary for early printed books, the typeface used (the so-called “Roman type”) reproduces the appearance of the humanistic script used in 15th-century manuscripts.

The influence of handwritten books is also visible inside the volume, where there are blank spaces reserved for decoration, accompanied by “guide letters” corresponding to the major initials of the text, which were to be printed at a later stage [photo 2].

On the last page of the copy is the colophon, which contains information about the printing, such as the name of the printer, the date, and the printer’s location [photo 3].

Finally, since books were stored horizontally at the time, the author's name and the title of the work were added by hand on the lower edge [photo 4].