T
his is the first page
of Sir Philip Sidney's pageant as posthumously published at the end
of the 1598 Arcadia.
Note the formal elements of style typical of
the time: the long title, set in centered lines of diminishing length
and type size, the ornate initial letter, the use of Roman type for
the prose text, and of italic for verse. There is also a catchword,
or first word of the next page, at lower right.
The printing technology here remains unchanged since the time of Gutenberg,
250 years earlier. The foundry type has been hand set and the dampened sheets individually
printed directly from the type, which is hand-inked before each impression.
(Arcadia, Sir Philip Sidney. Scholars' Facsimiles and
Reprints, Delmar, NY 1984. Shown here 1/4 original size [folio].)
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