Magyar Könyvszemle, 1971 (87. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
Borsa Gedeon: Computer-assisted examination of printing types of early printings 165
Gomputer-assistei exaniination of printing types 167 not less then 207 types. Within each class of Ms and Qs, the individual types of various printing shops were ärranged by the measurement of 20 lines. Since in case of a number of types of wide-spread forms this method had not yet resulted in finding an unambiguous uniqueness, HAEBLER had recourse to examining the peculiarities of the rest of capital letters, then small letters {particularly ligatures and abbreviations), as well as of further symbols (hyphens, mimerais, etc.) to distinguish among similar types. To provide a higher degree of certainty for and to facilitate the process of récognition and identification, the publication of alphabets, including the 15th-century types and the facsimile of characteristic pages composed thereof, was started.5 This undertaking contained a part of printed sets of initiais used in 15th-century printing offices, which were also included in HAEBLER'S repertory. Illustrations arranged by the printing offices of Germán incunabula were also published.6 HAEBLER assumed that all printing types of 15th-century printing offices might be distinguished from those of all the other printing offices. Relying on this assumptión and by using the above-mentioned repertory, along with other aids, it became possible for almost every 15th-century publication, and evén for a one-page fragment of such a publication, to be determined as to where, when and by whom it was produced. All this obviously took an immense amount of work. In this respect it will suffice to consider that somé 40,000 incunabula, which are still extant, were produced by somé 1,500 printers with approximately 10,000 printing types, each consisting of 150 to 200 characters and symbols. Thus we have reached a figure well over one million. And all this was produced in less than fifty years after printing had been invented. Somé fifty to hundred years ago, the interest of the scholars of old prints was focussed on the 15th-century publications. The Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke tended to comprise all the problems encountered in the entire field of incunabula. Evén if the publication of this world catalogue of incunabula was temporarily discontinued due to World War II, the whole matériái collected is readily available in a well-arranged form at the editorial office in Berlin. Thus was it that more and more interest was given to the 16th-century publications which are far more interesting in bot h content and outlay than the products of the previous Century. Now, let us take a look at how things worked out in this field in the 16th Century. To obtain a rough approximation of the number of 16th-century printings printers and printing types, the corresponding figures for the 15th Century, as stated above, should be multiplied by ten. The resulting figures are frightfully great by themselves. Thus no wonder that no comprehensive works — and hardly any plan for such works — have been undertaken to provide a systematic survey of 16th-century prints. Somé works, concerned with détails, tend to cover the early 16th Century7 only, or printing offices of certain countries.8 5 Veröffentlichungen der Gesellschaft für Typenkunde des X V. Jahrhunderts. Tat. 1 — 2460. Leipzig-Halle a. S. 1907-1939. 6 SCHRAMM, Albert: Der Bilderschmuck der Frühdrucke. 1 — 22. Leipzig, 1922 — 1940. 7 E. g. PROCTOR, Robert: An Index to the Early Printed. Books in the British Museum. Part 2. 1501 1520. Sect. I. London, 1903. ISAAC, Frank: . . . Sect. 2 -3. London, 1938. 8 E. g. ISAAC, Frank: English and Scottish Printing Types. 1503 — 1558. London. 1930 1931 Polonia typographica saecidi sedecimi. Fase. I—VIT. Krakow — Warszawa—Wroclaw, 1936-1970.