his libris Catonis: Varronis: Columellæ. [Aldine anchor]. Hos libros
Pontificis etiam Leonis decreto, nequis alius usquam locorum impune
imprimat, cautum est. _Fol. 308^a_: COLOPHON: VENETIIS IN AEDIBVS ALDI
ET ANDREAE SOCERI MENSE MAIO M.D.XIIII. [Aldine anchor on verso].

Quarto. Sign. *, aa, bb^8, cc^{10}, a-h^8, i^4, k-z, A-Q^8. 8
unnumbered preliminary leaves containing title, privilege of Leo X.
countersigned by P. Bembo, papal secretary, preface of the editor,
Fra Giocondo, addressed to Leo X., _Aldus lectori_ (two epistles,
the first relating to the position of the _De arboribus_ of
Columella, an independent treatise, in previous editions inserted
in his _De re rustica_ as liber lii, but here correctly placed
after that work, the second, to the hours of Palladius, varying in
length with the seasons, and the use of the gnomon in determining
them), _errata_; 26 unnumbered leaves (preceded by a second title
with anchor and mention of the privileges of Alexander VI., Julius
II. and Leo. X.) containing explanations of unfamiliar words and
table of contents, last leaf blank; 308 numbered leaves of text,
Sign. * is not included in the register on fol. 308^a and being
followed by a second title-page its absence, if accidentally
omitted, might pass unnoticed. Italic letter, 39 lines to the page,
six- to seven-line spaces with guide-letters left for the initials
of the thirty books, which in the present copy are supplied in gold
and colors. Numerous paragraph-marks in alternate red and blue.
Ruled in red. Renouard, p. 66. Firmin-Didot, p. 370.

The italic type of Aldus, a cursive or semi-cursive roman, the
counterpart of his cursive Greek, was modeled as he himself informs us
on the handwriting of Petrarch _a lettra per lettra_. It first appeared
in the Vergil of 1501, the first of his octavo series of classics and