Convent of San Jacopo di Ripoli — typesetters, bookbinders and illuminators

 
Creator(s):
Petrarch [pseud.]
Title:
Incominciano Le uite de pontefici et imperadori Romani
Publication/Origin:
Florence: Apud Sanctum Iacobum de Ripoli, 1478
Description:
The earliest documented printing by women is from the press at the Convent of San Jacopo de Ripoli in Tuscany. The nuns set type, sewed folios, and provided financial backing for the press. The collection includes two copies of this book. The first is trimmed and rubricated, with the rubrication likely done by the nuns. The second is untrimmed with copious marginalia. The manicule in the second copy points insistently to the entry for the mythic Pope Joan and proclaims “papa femina” (female pope). On close examination, both copies can be seen to have numerous manuscript additions to individual letters.
Citation:
Petrarch [pseud.], Incominciano Le uite de pontefici et imperadori Romani, Florence: Apud Sanctum Iacobum de Ripoli, 1478, Lisa Unger Baskin Collection, Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Accessed March 29, 2024, https://exhibits.library.duke.edu/exhibits/show/baskin/item/3935