Modification of the third Anchor, 1555-1574.
With the death of Paulus, the glory of the Aldine press departed. He, like his father, had patiently striven to infuse neatness and accuracy into his work, and is said to have been in every respect his equal.
Aldus, the son of Paulus, who is known among bibliographers as "the younger," had not perhaps the same opportunities as were afforded to his predecessors. The art of printing had advanced universally, and there was not so much room for improvement as there had been formerly. He printed in a good, but by no means exceptional, style, from 1574 until the time of his death in 1597, when the Aldine press ceased to exist. During a period of 103 years some 823 books had been issued, many of which are among the prizes of book collecting.[8]
Aldus Junior, like his father and grandfather, used the anchor, but between the years 1575-81 it is so hidden in the foliage of a magnificent coat-of-arms which had been granted to the family by the Emperor Maximilian, that it is likely to be overlooked by any who have not made the Aldine press their special study.
The Aldine Anchor, enclosed in a coat-of-arms, as used by Aldus Junior, 1575-1581. On some occasions, and always after the latter date, he used the anchor alone, sometimes without the word ALDVS.
The collector will need to be cautioned against accepting every work bearing the anchor as a genuine example from the Aldine press. Some are mere forgeries, but so badly executed as to deceive nobody who has seen half-a-dozen of any of the originals. Some printers assumed the mark by licence, as did Torresano, who used Anchor No. 3, with the words "Ex Aldina Bibliotheca," and occasionally Anchor No. 1, but, these exceptions apart, it may usually be taken for granted that a book if well printed and bearing the mark in question is authentic. If any doubt exists it is easy to turn to the pages of Renouard, where every genuine example is catalogued and described. Some fifty years ago, Aldine collectors were more numerous than they are now, and as a consequence prices were higher. This particular branch of bibliography demands the sacrifice of much time, and cannot be even approached without a fair knowledge of Latin, Greek, and French. As a consequence, the new school of collectors, whose knowledge of those languages is not always as well grounded as it might be, have long since severed their allegiance from old traditions and now confine their attention to sober English, where, it must be admitted, there is plenty of scope for good work.
Even yet, however, the earlier productions of the Aldine press maintain their former position: perhaps they have even surpassed it, for as specimens of ancient typography they stand unrivalled. Reference is made chiefly to works dated before 1500, and to such exceptional specimens as the Virgil of 1501, some of which are still worth more than their weight in gold. The majority of works from this famous press have, however, fallen enormously in value of late years, as witness the fine copy of Augurellus, 1505, 8vo, beautifully bound in blue morocco, which quite recently was sold by auction for less than a sovereign: some few years ago it would have brought three times the amount, and been considered cheap even then.
By way of illustration, I cannot do better than give a few examples of modern prices, comparing them with the approximate amounts which would have been obtained some twenty-five or thirty years ago.