Marmion, Antiquary, 1641 (H4r)

Blank areas on a page are usually filled with type or spaces that won't print---without those extra pieces, the platen of the press will tilt unevenly as it's pushing down on the forme. On this copy, the quads used to fill the blank areas were accidentally inked and printed.

Marston, Antonio and Mellida, 1603 (A1r)

Thomas Fisher's printer's device, shown on this playbook title page, puns on his name by featuring a kingfisher bird.

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.

Moxon, Mechanick exercises, 1683 (F4v)

In the empty space at the end of a section in his book on printing, Moxon places an advertisement for volume one of Mechanick Exercises. He describes the book in terms of the number of sheets and illustrations that make it up, and that the price is given for it as gathered but not bound.

Moxon, Mechanick exercises, 1683 (S4v)

On what would otherwise be a blank page, this advertisement is for similar how-to books.

Nostradamus, An almanach, 1562 (fol. 1r)

This almanac gives evidence of two things we don't often get to see: it barely survived and it's covered with manuscript notes from other dates. Although it's hard to discern from just this one image, this is one side of a half of a sheet that was imposed as an octavo (the other images from this sheet can be seen here). The sheet itself was torn along what is here the left edge, probably after it was weakened by years of folding. But even then, the almanac is incomplete, ending in October since the second sheet is now missing.

Nostradamus, An almanach, 1562 (fol. 1v)

Although this almanac is for the year 1562, a user has added notes for a number of later years, including 1581 and 1589, as see here on the blank verso of the title page.

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.

Ogilby, Aesop, 1668 (pg. 47)

Ogilby's version of Aesop's Fables uses the margins for extensive annotations.