20 DECLINE OF THE ALDINE PRESS. 



consider him as having eminently contributed to the progress 

 of civilisation and to the revival of learning, and must ever 

 feel the deepest veneration for a man whose life was one con- 

 tinued series of labors which will extend their useful in- 

 fluence to the latest posterity. 



HENRIETTA. 



But, aunt, did you not say that there were three Aldini ? 



MRS. F. 



Yes, Aldus was succeeded by his son Paul, who, as a 

 printer and editor, equalled his father. Devoted to the study 

 of Cicero, he published several editions of his works.* He 

 was chosen professor of eloquence to the Venetian Academy, 

 and remained in that city until 1561, when he removed to 

 Rome, and set up his printing-press in the capitol. He died 

 in 1574, leaving a son, generally called Aldus the younger, 

 who had distinguished himself by his precocious talents, and 

 was appointed by Clement VIII, to direct the presses of the 

 Vatican. Aldus the younger died in 1597, leaving his affairs 

 in the greatest disorder. The valuable library collected by 

 his father and grandfather (and which he had wished to leave 

 to the republic of Venice) was dispersed among his creditors, 

 and the press of Aldus ceased to exist, after having flourished 

 for nearly a century. | 



HENRIETTA. 



Thank you, aunt, for this very interesting account, which 

 my foolish false shame nearly made me lose hearing. But 

 now you have not told us the meaning of the dolphin t\visted 

 round an anchor, which I see in the title-page of my book. 



MRS. F. 

 That was the distinguishing mark of the Aldine press; for, 



* The number of copies taken off at one edition in those times 

 was very small : so that certain works of Cicero, published by Paul 

 Manutius, were reprinted almost annually. 



t See Roscoe's Leo X, and Biographe UniVerselle, for detailed 

 lives of the Aldini. 



