Excerpt from The Library of the Late Theodore Low De Vinne Those embodying the aspirations and attainments of a trained mind which spent years in bringing together books selected with a certain end in View and those which were assembled with the sole idea of acquiring numbers of volumes expensive and rare. The first is a partially realized dream, the heart of the owner's desires; the second, no matter how choice and valuable, is only a collection of books. To the former class belongs the library of the late Theodore L. Devinne, Master Printer. In it we see the careful accumulation of a lifetime of study and accomplishment; the tools wherewith he fashioned the works on typographical history and criticism which will keep his memory bright for all those who love a well-made book and try to do their part in maintaining a high standard for the art preservative of all arts, the art of printing. Mr. Devinne used his library constantly in the preparation of his books as well as to study historic types, etc., with the purpose of improving American printing. He was a great admirer of the early Venetian printers and had many examples from their presses. In his Historic Printing Types, 1886; title-pages as seen by a Printer, 1901; and above all in Notable Printers of Italy during the Fifteenth Century, 1910, he reproduced specimens from his own collection; indeed nearly all the facsimiles in the last mentioned book are from copies now offered for sale. In addition to the many valuable examples from Fifteenth Century Presses, the library contains a very large collection of reference books on early typography. Taken as a whole, it is the finest library on the history of printing which has ever been offered for sale in this country. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.