Andreas Belfortis, First Printer in Ferrara: A Revised Chronology of his Output, 1471–1478

Much of the printed output of Ferrara’s first printer, Andreas Belfortis, is undated. A close analysis of his first two roman types in the period from 1471 to 1478 (after which his output changed in character, using mainly gothic types), together with an examination of his compositorial habits (introduction of signatures, use of catchwords, etc.), has provided techniques for proposing a new chronology of Belfortis’s output and an appraisal of Belfortis’s role in the diffusion of typographical innovation in this very early period of the new technology in Renaissance Italy.