1449-1515

Italian Printer and Scholar

Aleader in the printing industry, Aldus Manutius was also a humanist scholar. He was responsible not only for establishing several publishing houses but for creating the first Greek alphabet italic fonts as well. He also produced a small, inexpensive collection of Greek and Roman classics for scholars.

Manutius was born Teobaldo Mannuci at Sermoneta in the Papal States. Between 1467 and 1473 he was a student in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Rome. In the late 1470s he attended the University of Ferrara, where he studied Greek under the distinguished humanist and educator Battista Guarino (1435-1505). In 1480 he was employed as tutor to the children of the Duke of Carpi, near Ferrara.

In 1489, Manutius abandoned teaching for the publishing world and moved to Venice. He formed a partnership with established printer Andrea Torresano (1451-1529), who provided both expertise and material...