Simon de Colines: An Annotated Catalogue of 230 Examples of His Press: 1520-1546.

Students of early printing will be indebted for decades to come to Fred Schreiber for his fine catalogue of the achievement of Simon de Colines, French Renaissance printer of the early sixteenth century. The author calls his work "a representative sampling" to distinguish it from a complete bibliography of the printer's life work. His sub-title delineates the scope of the catalogue, "An Annotated Catalogue of 230 Examples of His Press, 15204546." Building on the century-old standard bibliography of de Colines by Philippe Renouard, Schreiber describes each of his 230 examples in meticulous and impeccable detail. The result is a collection astounding in its variety, abundance, elegance and scholarship. Equally elegant and scholarly are the very full annotations for each volume in the collection, now held at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Exceptionally rich annotations give not only the physical properties of each volume, but provenance notes; clues to its relative scarcity; whether or not it is recorded in Renouard or other studies of French printing; variations in borders, initials, illustrations, and other pictorial devices; plus a wealth of information displaying the depth of Mr. Schreiber's own research and scholarship.

In addition to splendid annotations (which make fascinating reading in themselves), the volume under review has several other unique and invaluable features. Primary among these is the superb introductory essay on de Colines's career and its significance by Jeanne Veyrin-Forrer, former Curator of Rare Books at the Bibliotheque Nationale. The entire essay appears in English also, translated by Nina Musinsky and Mr. Schreiber, a graceful concession to the non-French-reading student of sixteenth-century printing. That essay in turn is enriched by full and complete bibliographical notes. Another valuable feature of this catalogue is the inclusion in an appendix of facsimiles of two very rare de Colines catalogues, reproduced from the originals at the Catholic University at Leuven, Belgium. One is probably from 1545, the other from 1546; a second copy of the 1545 edition also exists at the Bibliotheque Mazarine, Paris. Not often does one have access to a publisher's catalogue from the sixteenth century, so the volume under review makes available this useful resource to those unable to get to Belgium very soon.

De Colines was a type designer and punchcutter before he was a printer, and his achievements in the field of typography form one of the singular contributions of this catalogue. Schreiber traces the printer's introduction of the first accented Greek type in France; an outstanding cursive typeface based on Arrighi's designs: and an italic derived from Aldus Manutius's italic. De Colines designed and cut these new typefaces within the first ten years of producing his first book and launching his very successful printing career. In addition to documenting the printer's typographical triumphs, this catalogue also features discussion of his use of borders and ornaments. Detailed descriptions of the woodcut borders enhance the utility of the annotations. The partnership of de Colines and Geofroy Tory is noted in the annotation of the famous Horae of 1543. Not the least remarkable feature of this catalogue is the inclusion of no less than 73 reproductions of significant title and text pages selected from among the 230 examples in the collection, plus facsimiles of six states of de Colines's printer's devices, both the "Cuniculi" and "Tempus" images. A bibliography and two indices (one for authors, etc., and one for provenances and binders) complete the riches of this catalogue.

MARGERY SMITH, CSJ College of Saint Catherine