Aldus Manutius or Aldus Manutius the Elder, with original name as Teobaldo Manucci was born somewhere between 1449 and 1451 in Rome. There are open arguments on Aldus’s exact date of birth and place. There are varied information on his parents and siblings and it is stated that he had three sisters whom he cared for during his adulthood.
Aldus Manutius completed his education in Rome. He had a brief stay for his education in the University of Rome in Gaspare da Verona at the Sapienza. He studied The Greek language in the University of Ferrera location in the southwest region of Venice. It was around the year the 1460s when the Gutenberg Press arrived for the first time in Rome which created a swirl among the scholars and the intellectuals. Aldus would be in his teens during this time.
In 1480, Aldus was given citizenship to the town of Capri. He was learned and started with tutoring the nephews of an important citizen in the town Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. His students were Lionello Pio and Alberto who were also the princes. He became a good acquaintance with Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and it is believed that he continued teaching till the year 1482. During this time, Aldus also wrote several educational writings which were helpful for his pupil. One of such writing includes ‘Musarum Panegyris’ which was published in a limited edition by Venice’s Baptista de Tortis. This was basically a letter to the mother of Prince Lionello Pio to create a better environment for aiding his studies. There were only four copies of the letters that survived from the printed edition by the 20th century.
By the year 1490, Aldus moved to Paris while he also continued teaching. His sole purpose of moving to Venice involved opening up a printing shop. Four years later, Aldus added two partners to his printing shop. These included a printer Andrea Torresani and a financial supporter Pierfrancesco Barbarigo. Aldus in his manual of agriculture mentioned that the copyright privilege of his prints was valid for 15 years as was allowed by Pope Leo X then.
Aldus was forty years of age when he opened up his Aldine Press in 1489. It is believed he shifted his profession from teaching to the printing line because of his interest in literary text and his love for different languages. His initial publications included a book on Latin grammar titled ‘Institutiones grammaticae’ which got published in 1493. New editions of the books came out in 1501, 1508 and 1514. The book majorly carried epilog to help young readers and facilitate them in studies. He spent the years from 1495 to the next three years in accumulating and publishing each of the works of Aristotle. This was published in folio formatted documents. In addition to this, Aldus also published quartos and octavos. These were various forms of page printing wherein folio signifies full page format, quartos is one-quarter size page and octavos are one-eighth size pages.
In the year 1497, Aldus printed a very famous Latin prayer compilation called ‘Horae Beatissimae Virgines’ in the smallest of the format in 115 by 79 mm. This was smaller than his octavos format. In 1488, Aldus printed the works of Aristophanes and the following year ‘Scriptores Astronomici veteres’ was published. This was a compilation of six different works including ‘Mathesis’ which was written by Maternus.
Aldus also introduced with now used anchor and dolphin impresa which appeared first in his publication ‘Hypnerotomachia Poliphili’ in 1499 as a design. He also introduced the world with Aldine fonts. He was the first one to bring up with an Italian font format. It is believed that Aldus had taken up the Italic font from two Italian writers Bartolomeo Sanvito and Pomponio Leto who were his associates. Aldus introduced with the complete Italic typeface in 1501 with his publication of the writings of Virgil.
Aldus also initiated with three New Greek fonts. In 1502, Aldus was awarded a copyright to his Italic and Greek fonts which meant that copying fonts of Aldus could lead to a penalty. The award was given to Aldus by the doge of Venice. Aldus published his copyright protection notice in his publication in 1502. The Italic fonts were majorly used for political and government documents within and outside of the state area.
In 1502, Aldus established Aldine Academy of Hellenic Scholars to aid and expand his business in typefaces and translations. He then published a book in The Greek language which included the writings of Sophocles. This was published under Aldine Academy for the first time and was in the Octavo format. The same year many other Greek publications came out which included the Thucydides history of the Peloponnesian War, the works of Cicero, the poems from Ovid and the writings of Catullus. The publication of the Ovid had indexes but it lacked page numbering which was to be done by the readers.
Aldus continued his publication of Latin and Greek classics. Aldus had to leave Venice from 1509 until the next three years due to a threat of a French invasion that tried to take hold of Aldus’s real estate in another place. He returned to Venice in 1512 after he failed in his efforts to avoid the invasion. He published the writings of Julius Caesar in 1513. This was the first book to include colorful maps.
Aldus brought out his final publication titled ‘De rerum natura’ which was covering the works of Lucretius. One month later Aldus died in 1515. The members of his press gave a praising speech in remembrance of the master printer and it was published in one of the editions of ‘Lactantius selections and Tertullian's Apologeticum’. Aldus had devoted more than 20 years of his life to printing and publishing works that would aid and spread learning. When his body was laid in the church of St. Paternian, most of his admirers piled up his books from the Aldine Publications on which Aldus had dedicated his life to. Though Aldus was completely devoted to his printing press and publication, it is stated that he owned only 10 percent of share in the business.
After the death of Aldus, the printing press was taken over by Torresani. There were several errors and mistakes found during the publications at this time until it was taken over by Paulus Manutius who took care of the shop until 1574. Under the control of Paulus, Aldine press became the official publication partner to the Catholic Church. After the death of Paulus, his son Aldus Manutius II took over the operations of the press until his death in 1597.
Though there are very limited details of Aldus Manutius’s religious beliefs, with his publications wherein he brought out the compilation of Latin prayers, it can be stated that he was a religious person. The size of the book was smaller than Octane which made it easier to carry and to be used.
There is no information about Aldus Manutius’s inclination towards politics.
Quotations:
“Talk of nothing but business and dispatch that business quickly.” (Aldus Manutius, Placard on the door of the Aldine Press)
“It is not work that kills; but no work and overwork.”
“It is disgraceful to live as a stranger in one's country, and be an alien in any matter that affects our welfare.”
Aldus Manutius was a learned scholar and a true teacher. Even during his tutoring time, he wrote articles that could help his students in learning. Though he was successful in the field of teaching, he changed his profession when he started which his own printing press. This signifies that he was clear on his idea of spreading the words to a wider audience.
Aldus married Maria in 1505. Maria was the daughter of Torresani. They had five children together of which Paulus was only two years of age when his father died and he was brought up by his grandfather on his father’s side. Paulus took over his father’s business after his death until 1574. After the death of Paulus, his son Aldus Manutius II took over the operations of the press until his death in 1597.
