Renaissance Discoveries: Aldus Manutius

[@pedrodeluna1088]

Found one of your books (Michelangelo ) in a camping ground reception in Assisi two days ago. Am actually eagerly reading it.

[@rossking3163]

Great to hear. Enjoy Assisi - and the book!

[@HyperboreanBreeze]

Thank you, Ross! So wonderful, so well-informed, and so entertaining, as always! An instant classic! I was delighted that you included the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, published by Aldus, a very important book in the history of book design, which was finally translated by my friend Joscelyn Godwin into English and published by Thames & Hudson in a beautiful kind of facsimile edition, and set in the font Poliphilus.

[@rossking3163]

Thanks, David. I have a copy of Joscelyn Godwin’s translation. I agree-it’s beautifully produced and illustrated. I meant to put it on my stack of books as a prop but forgot! (It’s somewhere on the shelf above my right shoulder ... ) Thames & Hudson has often used the ‘Poliphilus’ typeface in their books. It was developed for modern printers by the Monotype Corporation in the 1920s. So Aldus, thankfully, lives on in the modern age.

[@Nomad_786]

picked up your book in the library as was looking for any book to read, amazing book and amazing writer. You make something that should be very boring to read very very captivating. I am definitely adding this to my personal library.

[@santaberbs]

Grateful to Aldus for his work and to you for sharing this video. Great channel.

[@ChornyAnton]

Very interesting. Subscribed!

[@inkland2003]

Nice

[@homefryniles3983]

Fascinating, Dr. King. Thank you!

[@rossking3163]

Thank you - glad you enjoyed it!

[@erictrombini8519]

We miss you man!

[@rossking3163]

Thank you! I've been writing books rather than recording films over the past two years. But hopefully more to come in the next year!

[@halmeasley9784]

Dear Mr. Fideler: Do you know if it is possible to buy that translated version with color, as opposed to black and white, illustrations and hard bound? The Thames website lists only a soft bound black and while edition. Thank you.

[@Wakobear.]

Could you make a video covering why Florence in particular became so rich to allow the Renaissance. And what made it different from other Italian, European or Mediterranean cities?

[@rossking3163]

Very good suggestion. I hope to do a few more videos in the next few months - and one on Florence's uniqueness, and the reasons for its artistic and intellectual preeminence, would be a pleasure to work on. So watch this space!

[@tonyfoglio6745]

If I were to attribute only one cause of the Renaissance, It would have to be, "Books." thank You, Ross King.

[@rossking3163]

Thanks, Tony. I agree completely. Florence’s 70% adult male literacy rate (even a city like Paris was only about 20%) goes a long way to explaining why it was so vital to intellectual culture in the 1400s. Aldus and Vespasiano da Bisticci-as well as the many Italian and Greek manuscript hunters, translators, collectors, scholars and teachers of the fifteenth century-are unsung heroes.

[@tonyfoglio6745]

@@rossking3163 Have you considered doing a lecture tour of Florence?

[@rossking3163]

@@tonyfoglio6745 I do sometimes lecture and give tours in Florence. I work with Friends of Florence (a charity that raises funds to repair and preserve Tuscany's art and architecture) and also with Smithsonian Journeys. There's nothing like discussing one of the works while we're standing beside it and seeing it in its original location.