Figure 224
Gothic Types: Hagenbach, Toledo
From a copy in the Boston Public Library
1504
A Spanish translation of the Latin work of St. Juan Climaco, printed in quarto at Toledo by Peter Hagenbach by order of Cardinal Ximenez.… Its title-pages bears a coat of arms, surmounted by a cardinal’s hat, and below, in a rich, round, Spanish gothic letter, is the title in four lines. The rest of the book is printed in a spirited Spanish black-letter set in double column—the principal divisions beginning with handsome block initials with black grounds, and the contents of each division being set in effective lines of large black-letter. Running-titles are also composed in this large type, with folios on right-hand pages only. At the beginning and end of the book, these large characters run across the page, giving a very noble effect. The beautiful “texture” of the pages of type makes a very handsome book—but one which is practically a “fifteener” in general style.