The Poetic Design of the First Cracovian Prints

Abstract

During the first decades of its existence, the printed book slowly developed its own shape and gradually became more distinct from manuscripts. Title page was a particularly important moment in this process. This completely new element came in various forms and featured various content. In addition to the title, author’s name and publishing address, it often contained various poems, contained in the form of epigram. They acted mostly as an advertisement for the publication itself. Sometimes they also contained a praise for the book’s author. It would also be common for these short verses to be enriched with various graphic elements; it is worth noting that this took place even before the publishing of Emblematum liber by Andrea Alciato. This paper focuses specifically on the poems found on the oldest title-pages of Cracovian prints and discusses the context in which they appear as well as the functions they perform. A particular interest is put on the prints published by Florian Ungler, but the works of other print- ers such as Kasper Hochfeder and Jan Haller are also mentioned.