ABSTRACT
In the period under consideration in this chapter (c. 1450 to 1600) a new technology, the (hand-pressed) movable-type printing press, appeared and be came established as a means of book-production in Europe. Books printed before 1501 using this technology are commonly classified as incunabula (‘swad dling clothes’), a term first applied in 1688 to books produced during this nascent period of printing.1 For its historical as well as antiquarian value, this class of books has frequently received special treatment and detailed documen tation. The standard catalogues of incunabula are: L. Hain, Repertorium Bibliographicum . . .a d annum MD (Stuttgart and Tubingen 1826-91, 5 vols), supplemented by W.A. Copinger (London 1895-1902, 3 vols) and further by D. Reichling (Monaco 1905-14, 8 parts); F.R. Goff, Incunabula in American Li braries: the third census (New York 1964; with supplement, New York, 1972) and Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke (Leipzig 1925-, 9-vols).2 Most major libraries, including the British Library (R.G.C. Proctor, An Index to the Early Printed Books in the British Museum, London 1898-1903, 4 vols) have also published catalogues of their own incunabula holdings. More importantly, there is now an international project to list incunabula on electronic medium (ISTC), which is accessible via the BLAISE-Line.
