Meditationes

Meditationes

A true milestone of the Italian Renaissance: the first illustrated printed book from Italy. Carlos Romero de Lecea has pointed out of this was "not the most well-known nor the most important work (of its author), but the most sought after by bibliophiles of all times", referring to this first edition, which was a genuine 15th century best-seller. Its author was no less than Juan de Torquemada (1388–1468) a Spanish cardinal and abbot of the Monastery of Subiaco. His Meditations were published on December 31st, 1467 by the German printer Ulrich Han (ca. 1425 – ca. 1478) in Rome. The printing press of Johannes Gutenberg (ca. 1400–68) had only recently been brought to Italy by Arnold Pannartz (d. ca. 1476) and Konrad Sweynheim (d. 1477), specifically to Subiaco Abbey, which was administered by Juan de Torquemada, the patron of this printed work. The printer, Ulrich Han, used a form of hybrid script that blended Gothic and Roman letters and like many incunabula (pre–1501 printed books) left blank spaces open for an illuminator to add customized historiated initials. These appear alongside 31 colored woodcuts, which reproduce the now-lost paintings of the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.