This selection of 57 studies by Dr. D. E. Rhodes focuses on the history of printing in Italy from the earliest printers of the 15th century to the flourishing of regional presses in the 16th and 17th centuries. The author is a leading authority on early printed books, and the present volume brings together for the first time a number of important articles on early printing in Venice, Rome, Mantua and Milan, and also covers the presses of Southern Italy, and the smaller Italian towns.

The articles have been up-dated where necessary, with the addition of bibliographical notes and an index. There is a preface by George Painter.