main printed feature: music

Early printed music was sometimes made up of separate pieces of type that combined lines of the staff with a note; using engraved plates for music, which was smoother in appearance and more flexible in depicting notation, eventually become the standard method.

Dowland, Songes, 1597 (L1r)

This page of music was printed so that four musicians could stand around a table sharing the book. The music itself was printed from tiny pieces of metal type, each with the 5 bars of the staff and a note; lined up in a series, the pieces of type formed a series of musical notes.

Morley, Introduction to practicall musicke, 1608 (B4r)

Letterpress music was printed using metal pieces of type, so that music was easily able to be set and printed on the same press and at the same time as text. The downside, however, was that the lines of the staves were uneven, since separate pieces of type were needed to make a single line.

Pepusch, Solos for violin, 1705 (p. 1)

In this collection, the music is printed with copper plates in an oblong format---making for clear lines of the two staffs of music.

Songs in the opera of Hamlet, 1712 (p1)

This (now disbound) page from an opera of Hamlet shows clear marks from the copper plate used to print the music.