18 ITALICS. OCTAVOS. 



his types was unrivalled, and he was the inventor of what 

 \vas then called the Aldine, and has since been denominated 

 the Roman or Cursive type. 



HENRIETTA. 



Is that the same as Italics"? 



MRS. F. 



Precisely; and it is said that he founded his types in imi- 

 tation of the handwriting of Petrarch, who was himself a 

 most diligent collector and transcriber of ancient manuscripts. 

 Aldus first employed them in his edition of Virgil in 1501, 

 the first book which ever appeared in the octavo size. 



HENRIETTA. 



This alone must have been a great improvement. 



MRS. F. 



Yes, before that period, the unwieldy size of books pre- 

 vented them from being portable, so that this invention of 

 Aldus was of the greatest utility. The neatness of the text, 

 the beauty of the ink, and of the paper of the first printers 

 have never been surpassed. 



MARY. 

 Where was their ink made, mamma? 



MRS. F. 



The Italian printers had theirs chiefly from Paris. This 

 ink has a lustre and brilliancy which our modern ink does not 

 possess; but whether this proceeds from a difference in the 

 preparation, or from the influence of age, time alone can de- 

 cide.* But it was the publication of the works of Aristotle 

 which placed Manutius in the first rank among printers; and 

 this alone, independent of all his other labors, would have 

 entitled him to the gratitude of posterity; for it is impossible 

 to form an adequate idea of the patience and sagacity it re- 

 quired to decipher the MSS. which served as bases to his 

 editions, to supply omissions, and reconcile the various lead - 



* Valery, Voyages en Italic, t. iv. p. 411. 



