Early Printed Books at Special Collections & Archives, DCU Library

This guest post is written by Sharon Corrigan who is based in the Special Collections and Archives directorate in DCU Library. 

Pciture credit: Sharon Corrigan (using canva.com) 2025

The Early Printed Books (EPBs) collection at Dublin City University Library is in the care of its Special Collections & Archives (SC&A) directorate. It originates mainly from the former Jesuit Library at Milltown and from the Archdiocese of Dublin, with smaller holdings from the Church of Ireland College of Education and St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra.

Our collection covers the period frequently attributed to EPBs, i.e. 1501 to 1850, in addition to some incunables from the late 15th century. At the end of 2023, we commenced a programme to fully catalogue our EPBs. The first phase is centred on the works printed between 1450 and 1700. We are creating original cataloguing records, and enhancing existing ones, adding new MARC21 notes fields for provenance, bookplates, labels, and manuscript annotations. We are also creating authority access points for the names of book editors, translators, printers and former owners, and heading access points for subjects. The project also meant physically rearranging shelving space to accommodate the variety of sizes and formats.

Earlier this year, we made an internal presentation to our DCU Library colleagues, where we shared progress to date and demonstrated some collection highlights. We present here some of these illustrative examples of our catalogued 16th century works. These reflect the array of subjects in the collection, primarily subjects within the humanities area, i.e. philosophy (scholastic), theology, classical works, history and literature. 

Guigo (aus Château-Saint-Romain)
Statuta ordinis cartusiensis a domno Guigone priore cartusie edita 
Basel, Ex officina Johannes Amerbach, MDX. (1510). 

A beautiful example of an EPB is that of Statuta ordinis Cartusiensis by Guigo de Castro which was printed in Basel, Switzerland in 1510. The copy in our collection has decoratively stamped wooden boards with engraved metal clasps and contains beautifully crisp printed text and multiple pages of woodcuts depicting the foundation of the order by St. Bruno. In addition it includes an illustrated genealogical tree of the first priors of the Grande Chartreuse and portraits representing 33 popes. Its contents have been laid out with numbers alongside the statutes to allow for cross referencing against previous statutes. The copy also contains beautiful rubrication (hand finishing flourishes with coloured ink post printing), which has been done with care in both red and blue ink. This colour would have been added after printing at the book owner’s expense as texts bought from printing houses would have left spaces in the text for this purpose. Usually done in red, the addition of blue here is reflective of how highly the Carthusians, being a silent somewhat hermetic order, prized books.

The outer boards of the book Statuta Ordinis Cartusiensis. Top right is the title page. Woodcuts showing the founding of the order.
A rubricated letter P from the book. Photo credit: Sharon Corrigan, 2025. 

Luther, Martin (Principal Author)

Der ander teil aller Deudscher bücher und schrifften des thewren/ seligen Mans Doct. Mart. Lutheri : vom XXII jar an… 

Jena, durch Thomas Rebart (heirs of), MDLXXII. (1572)

Though the majority of the religious books in our collections are written from a Catholic perspective, we also hold copies of Protestant works by Martin Luther (1483-1546). These compilations of his writings were printed in Jena in Germany between 1556 and 1572 and are set in a gothic typeface. Our folios have been bound with wooden boards. The title pages have been printed in both red and black and each bears a similar engraving on their title pages of The Duke of Saxony praying with Luther at the crucifix. Included in the bound edition of “Der ander teil” are two full page engraved prints that were originally used in Luther’s pamphlets. 

The first of these images is of Der Papstesel, or the papal donkey, which was used in a satirical pamphlet published by Luther and Philip Melanchthon. It is a woodcut depicting a mythical creature based on a body that was washed up on the banks of the Tiber river. The creature in the image bears the head of a donkey, the torso of a woman, scaly limbs, an ox hoof and bird claw for feet, a devil’s mask over the rear and a tail ending in a dragon's head; in the background is the Castel Sant'Angelo. 

The image on the right hand side is known as the Monk Calf of Freiberg. It has been dated to 1523 and attributed to Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553).

It was supposedly inspired by a malformed calf that was born in Freiberg, Saxony in 1522. The calf had misshapen hind legs and was seen to resemble a cowled, tonsured, monk. This was used as an allegorical symbol by the publishers to represent what they saw as the warped, monstrous corruption of the Catholic church at the time. Luther made full use of such imagery and of the new widespread availability of printing to circulate his writings across Europe in a relatively short period of time.

The title page of Der Ander Teil, a sample of text, the papal donkey, and the monk calf of Freiberg. 
Photo credit: Sharon Corrigan 2025.  

Jacobus, de Voragine, approximately 1229-1298

Sermones aurei et pulcherrimi de tempore 

Sermones de sanctis per anni 

[Paris], venit Francisco Regnault , M.D. XXXIII. (1533)

This work of collected sermons includes two separate works that are bound together, each has its own title page with the first title page printed in black and red ink. The first book contains sermons for all religious events of the year according to the Sacred Scripture and the second book contains sermons on the lives of the Saints celebrated by the Church.

Both works begin with an alphabetical index to the sermons. The text is in two columns in black gothic typeface with Lombardic decorated initials at the start of each sermon. The woodcut engraved title pages depict an architectural arch supported by decorated columns that work as a frame to the lettering in the titles. As a colophon to the first work a large engraved printer’s device is included depicting an elephant carrying an heraldic emblem with initials FR and printer’s full name, Francoys Regnault.

Printer's mark, title page in two inks, decorated initial B, decorated initial O. 
Photo credit: Sharon Corrigan, 2025.   

Olaus, Magnus, Archbishop of Uppsala, 1490-1557
Histoire des pays septentrionaus écrite par Olaus Le Grand, Goth, Archevêque d'Vpsale, et Souvrain de Suevie, et Gothie. En laquelle sont brievement, mais clerement deduites toutes les choses rares ou étranges, qui se treuvent entre les nations Septentrionales ; traduite du Latin del'auteur en François.
A Anvers de l'imprimerie de Christophle Plantin, 1561.

This work was first published in Latin in 1555 in Rome with the title “Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus”. It was soon translated into all main European languages. It is a description of the Scandinavian Countries, the land, the people, their customs and traditions, their way of life, language and religion. It describes the creatures of the land and the sea with each chapter containing woodcut images illustrating the topic and a caption explaining each image. There are some fantastic illustrations of sea animals, of glaciers, of people going about their daily lives and images of war. Initials are lightly decorated so as not to take prominence from the main woodcut.

Clockwise from top left: Parents carrying their children for baptism, people holding beams that tell time,
monster fish-pig in the Germanic ocean, people exchanging goods. Photo credit: Sharon Corrigan, 2025.  

Ariosto, Ludovico, 1474-1533
Orlando Furioso di M. Ludovico Ariosto ornato di varie figure, con alcune stanze et cinque canti d'un nuovo libro del medesimo nuouamente aggiunti, & ricorretti. Cum alcune allegorie, et nel fine une breue espositione et tavola di tutto quello, che nell'opera si contiene.
In Vinegia Appresso Gabriel, Giolito de Ferrari, MDXLVIII. (1548)

This work is an Italian epic romantic poem first published in 1516 in 40 cantos and in 1532 extended to 46 cantos. This edition contains all 46 cantos and a further work that the author wrote at a later date to add to the original poem, entitled “Cinque canti di un nuovo libro di M. Ludovico Ariosto iquali seguono la materia del Furioso.” Each canto is preceded by a woodcut vignette and theme that introduces the poem and a woodcut historiated initial letter. The poem is printed in two columns. The work is edited by the humanist author, translator and editor Lodovico Dolce (1508-1568) who includes a portrait and a sonnet in praise of the author at the end of the work. Ludovico Dolce worked as main editor and translator of many works printed and published by Giolito de Ferrari (ca.1510- d.1578) in Venice. The printer’s device represents a Phoenix (his printing house name La Fenice) rising from the flames into a sun with a human face. The motto reads ‘Semper eadem’ (Always the same). There are some variant devices that include a more elaborate phoenix rising from an urn with the initials GGF and a more elaborate motto: ‘De la mia morte eterna vita I vivo. Semper eadem’. (Out of my death I live eternal life. Always the same.)

Title page of the Orlando Furioso di M. Ludovico Ariosto. Sonnet of editor Ludovico Dolce dedicated to the author and a portrait of the author. Image, summary and decorate initial of canto 15. Giolito de Ferrara printer's mark. Photo credit: Sharon Corrigan, 2025.

Printers

The main printing centres of Europe in the 16th century were by far Venice and Antwerp, both being port cities. This printing production is reflected in the works held in the DCU library collections. See the map showing distribution of printing below. The term printer, publisher, and bookseller were almost synonymous at the time as printers took on the risk and creative control over what was being produced, allowing EPBs to evolve based on demand.

Printing houses, in themselves, offer a rich seam of research possibilities as printing families would work alongside and marry into other printing houses, with widows sometimes taking over companies after their husbands’ deaths. Printers included their own illustration, or printer’s device, on books’ title pages.

Often elaborate engravings, these devices included mottos and allegories, sometimes captioned with addresses such as “St Paul’s Churchyard, at the sign of the pelican”. The largest percentage of the 16th century EPBs in our collections was printed in Venice, Rome, Paris, Lyon, Antwerp, Cologne, and London, with many other European cities also represented.

A map of European printing locations represented in the 16th Century EPBs in our collections.
Picture credit Sharon Corrigan (made using mapchart.net), 2025

Here are some illustrative examples from the collection of marks that printers in Europe used during the 16th century.

A selection of printers' devices representing the printing hubs of Europe in the 16th century.

Reference:

CRAI Universitat de Barcelona. (n.d.). Universitat de Barcelona Printers’ devices. Printers’ Devices. https://marques.crai.ub.edu/id/img/0057017a