Nostradamus, An almanach, 1562 (fol. 2r)

Unlike later almanacs, this continues one month on after another, rather than giving each month its own page or opening. If you look at the top right page, you'll see the start of January, which continues onto the bottom right page.

Nostradamus, An almanach, 1562 (fol. 2v)

One of the benefits of looking at this unopened sheet is seeing how the use of red ink calls attention to specific dates and moon phases as well as serving to differentiate sections of the text. Our use now of the phrase "red-letter day" comes from the practice of using red ink to indicate festivals, a practice that originated in manuscripts.

Prouisiones cedulas, 1563 (m2r)

Two different styles of the initial letter D can be seen here, the first quite plain and the second floriated.

Securis, A newe almanacke, 1571 (A2v-A3r)

Almanacs often included charts of the human body and indications of which astrological signs ruled which parts. This opening also includes information about propitious times of the year for things not only having to do with the body (bathing, stopping colds) but with planting.

Securis, A newe almanacke, 1571 (A4v-A5r)

This almanac prints the months on individual pages rather than a two-page opening, as become more common in later decades, but a lot of information about astrological bodies and calendar dates is still fit in across the columns.

Slovacius, Allmanach, 1580

This almanac was printed as a single sheet; the damaged sections running across the sheet suggest that it was stored folded for a long period of time, probably helping ensure its survival.

Whitney, Choice of emblemes, 1586 (3*2v)

This errata list, squeezed in small font at the bottom of the page, warns that while most of the mistakes were corrected during printing, there are still many leaves that have the errors.

Whitney, Choice of emblemes, 1586 (D2v)

Whitney's book of emblems brought the popular European tradition to English readers. The mise-en-page follows the pattern of many of the early editions of Alciati's Emblemata, expanding the original design of emblem, title, and a brief epigraph to include commentary and references.

woodblock, Agrostemma githago (recto)

This woodblock was used to print illustrations of the corn-cockle in a long list of herbals, starting with its appearance in Rembert Dodoens's 1568 Florum and continuing through the 17th century. The Museum Plantin-Moretus's catalog record for the block lists books in which it appears, a few of which appear on this site and can be found by searching for

woodblock, Agrostemma githago (verso)

At some point in its history as part of the Plantin Moretus press, a paper label was affixed to the back of this woodblock in order to identify it.