Venice

by Clara Erskine Clement Waters

When the Senate heard what had happened, they sent a swift fleet to seize a French galeas then at Alexandria. They sent ambassadors to the courts of France, England, and Burgundy, soliciting aid in recovering their vessels and cargoes. In the following spring two galleys, freighted with the cargoes saved from the four vessels captured by Columbus, were sent to Southampton, and there were sold by the Venetian Consul. The Venetians owed thanks for this to the French, who would not permit Columbus to leave Honfleur until he had given up his plunder. When the sum received at Southampton, and the value of the damaged ships which were brought back to Venice was deducted from the whole, the Senate announced the total loss which the Republic had sustained to be £32,200. When we remember that such disasters were not uncommon, we do not wonder at the Venetian proverb, "If you want to learn to pray, go to sea."

This particular misfortune caused much distress to the wool-workers, and the Senate removed all restrictions on the importation of wool for several months, in order to relieve the pressure in that particular trade.

This story of Columbus is in exact accord with the opinion of Charles Kendall Adams, in his most excellent life of Columbus. He says:—

"In point of character,—considering the term in the largest and broadest possible sense,—we shall probably not find much to admire. The moral atmosphere which he created about him was not much better or much worse than the general atmosphere of the age in which he lived. He entered no protest against any of the abuses of his time. On the contrary, he was ever ready to avail himself of those abuses whenever he could do so to his own advantage."

To resume our study of the mercantile policy of Venice, so quick was she to see her advantage in all directions and to take up new industries whenever it was possible, that no sooner was the question raised as to the introduction of the art of printing than it was generously encouraged. Venetian printing dates from 1469, and the honor of its introduction rests between John of Spires and Nicholas Jenson. The latter was a Frenchman, sent by Louis XI. to Mayence to learn printing. He never returned to France, and the only question as to his career in Venice is the actual date of his first book.

Venice soon became a city of printers. Between 1472 and 1500 one hundred and fifty-five printers established themselves there, some of them being the most celebrated printers of that age. In other cities of the Republic the printing of books rapidly grew into an enormous industry. We can scarcely realize what the demand for books became so soon as it could be satisfied. The slow processes of caligraphy had only created a desire it could never content. At the same time the exquisite ornamentation of the manuscripts had fostered a taste for dainty books which a plain-printed page could not satisfy; and then, too, those who could afford the silky vellum, with its lovely miniatures, decorative initial letters, and graceful borders, did not relish books so cheaply made that any one could buy them, and no distinction was attached to their ownership. Thus it resulted that the early printers made a few vellum copies of their works, and employed the miniaturists to ornament them in the style of the manuscripts. Among these books those of Jenson, made at Venice, are the most remarkable, and bring fabulous prices when sold in the present day.

After 1480 the printers employed engravers, and from that time the Venetian books were very notable. For two centuries Venice was the centre for printing, and besides her strictly literary publications she furnished school-books to all Italy; books of exquisite designs to lace-makers and embroiderers; missals, breviaries and books of hours to the devout; and to the general reader, books of romantic adventures, poems, and numberless accounts of festivals and important events. These, now literally worth their weight in gold, were made in little shops where the industrious artisans actually made the designs and executed the engravings of the books they printed. The amount of printing and bookmaking done at Venice up to the end of the seventeenth century, as compared with all the rest of Italy and Lyons, is simply amazing. Of the great printer, Aldus, I shall speak more at length elsewhere.

In 1498 the Senate granted to Ottaviano Petrucci the privilege of printing music for twenty years, for which time Venice may be said to have monopolized that very important art. Petrucci ceased to publish in 1525; and it is believed that he worked alone, as later music printers were greatly his inferiors. His books are now very rare, and proportionately valuable.

In all these important affairs the wisdom of the Venetians is most apparent, and the results of their system are its justification in many directions. But in the midst of great matters the smaller ones were by no means forgotten, and jealousy of individualism was the motive that induced the Senate gravely to make and severely to execute laws which seem to us most puerile and unworthy.