Bladzijde uit een Deventer almanak voor het schrikkeljaar 1596 c. 1596

This is a page from a Deventer Almanac for the leap year 1596, made by an anonymous printer. Its production involved typesetting, in which each letter was individually placed to form words, then inked and pressed onto the page. This process, key to early bookmaking, democratized information but also depended on skilled labor. The almanac’s material – thin, handmade paper – speaks to the period's limited resources, while its compact size and the nature of its contents suggest a consumer good, made for a wide readership. The page is densely packed with text, mixing practical information like dates and astronomical events with religious and astrological details. The red ink highlights key dates and symbols, adding visual interest but also requiring an additional step in the printing process. The imperfections and wear of the page, including holes and tears, give it a unique, tactile quality, contrasting with the mass-produced nature of print. Looking at this almanac, we can appreciate how materials, making, and social context intertwine. It challenges our assumptions about art, inviting us to consider everyday objects as carriers of significant cultural information.