Prima parte de' fiori, page 2 (verso) 1591

This page from ‘Prima parte de' fiori’ was printed in Venice in 1591 by Giovanni Battista Ciotti. It’s made of paper, of course, but that’s just the start of the story. Look closely, and you'll see it's been created through the process of letterpress printing, where each character is individually set and inked. Consider the sheer labor involved. Every letterform was a separate little piece of metal. Imagine typesetting this entire book by hand! This speaks to a world before mechanization, where skilled craftsmanship was central to the production of knowledge and art. The printed word would have been more precious then, too. Notice the quality of the ink, the texture of the paper. This wasn't disposable media, churned out by the millions. It was meant to last. Even now, centuries later, we can read Ciotti’s dedication to a noblewoman. It reminds us that the value of a book lies not only in its content, but in the collective effort of its making.