The Ancestry of Aldus Manutius

Abstract

Of the many fifteenth-century printers, none is better known than Aldus Manutius, and rightfully so, because few of his contemporaries could match him in the excellence of his craft and none in his humanistic endeavors. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that his activities at Venice have been carefully investigated and reported by scores of competent scholars. Yet his early years, and especially his ancestry, have remained obscure.The majority of present-day scholars, when confronted with the problem of Aldus' ancestry, either admit defeat, or tacitly avoid the subject. Some venture to make exaggerated claims on insufficient evidence, no doubt spurred by local patriotism, in order to bring glory to their native place. But to my knowledge nobody has provided documented proof for Aldus' ancestry, even though the direction of inquiry had already been set forth by Enrico Lambiasi in 1911.