Figure 81
Italic in Erasmus’s New Testament: Froben, Basle
From a copy in Harvard College Library, Munich Digitization Center (scan)
1521
Erasmus’s Latin translation of the New Testament, printed in italic by Froben in 1521, in a square 12mo, is an interesting example of one of Froben’s small formats, and its brilliant decorations make its little pages almost “sing.” The divisions are usually marked by captions in spaced capitals used in Froben’s characteristic way. This edition was dedicated by Erasmus to Leo X.