Beaumont and Fletcher, Scornfull Lady, 1651 (B1r)

In the upper right corner of this page is an odd blank space that cuts off some words---probably the result of a misplaced frisket or a stray piece of paper that got between the blank sheet of paper and the inked type.

Behn, Widdow Ranter, 1690 (A1r)

In a style more typical of the late 17th century than earlier playbooks, this title page provides only a relatively short title and the barest of acting company and authorial information along with the imprint.

Behn, Widdow Ranter, 1690 (A4r)

This list of actors and roles uses a range of typographical techniques, including columns and typefaces, to present different categories of information.

Behn, Widdow Ranter, 1690 (A4v)

This list of items also sold by this playbook's publisher include other plays as well as novels, with some including the format and the price of the work.

Bible, Church Slavic, 1581 (fol. 1r)

The opening of Genesis is marked off with an elaborate woodcut headpiece, clearly separating the text of the Bible from the prefatory materials.

Bible, Church Slavic, 1581 (fol. 78v)

The colophon identifies Ivan Fedorov of Moscow as the printer (his device appears just above the colophon) and that it was completed in 1581 on August 12 in Ostroh. Like the text above it, the colophon is in parallel columns of Greek and Church Slavic.

Bible, Church Slavic, 1581 (title page)

The Ostroh Bible is the first complete edition of the Bible printed in Cyrillic, made at the behest of Prince Konstantin Ostrogski.

Bible, English, 1611 (A1r)

The King James Bible uses a complex typography to signal which words or phrases are not from the source material but have been added in translation (those in roman type), printed notes in roman type for cross referencing between different books, printed notes in italic for translation notes, and headnotes for each chapter providing summaries to help with quick navigation.

Bible, English, 1611 (πA1r)

The title page for the Authorized version of the Bible is completely engraved, including the title and imprint information, by Cornelius Boel, whose name appears in the bottom left of the image. (This version is more commonly known as the King James Bible, since James authorized it to be translated and placed in all churches.)

Bible, Massachuset, 1663 (A1r)

Though not credited, several Indigenous people were involved in the translation and production of the book, including James Printer, the first Indigenous American to work in a print shop. Eliot believed the Masschusett people would be more receptive to conversion if it was presented in their own language. In this way, the Eliot Bible was a physical tool of colonialism: a way to overcome the language barrier so that Indigenous people could receive the colonizer’s values, but not vice versa. On this page, one of the fleurons in the lower right section of the headpiece is upside-down, perhaps an error made in haste.