Alfred William Pollard

“ Interest in books of the last ten or fifteen years of the century is a much more modern development, but with the considerable literature which has grown up round the subject is not likely to be easily checked.
The chief collections of incunabula are those of the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris, Royal library, Munich, and British Museum, London, the number of separate editions in each library exceeding nine thousand, with numerous duplicates. The number of separate editions at the Bodleian library is about five thousand. ”

“ As to the size of the editions we know that the earliest printers at Rome favoured 225 copies, those at Venice 300. By the end of the century these numbers had increased, but the soft metal in use then for types probably wore badly enough to keep down the size of editions, and an average of 500 copies, giving a possible total of twenty million books put on the European market during the 15th century is probably as near an estimate as can be made. ”

“ The attractions of a round date have prevailed, however, over these considerations, and the year 1500 is taken as a halting-place, or more often a terminus, in all the chief works devoted to the registration and description of early printed books. ”

“ The chief editors were Juan de Vergara, Lopez de Zuniga (Stunica) , Nuñez de Guzman (Pincianus) , Antonio de Librixa (Nebrissensis) , and Demetrius Ducas. About half a century after the Complutensian came the Antwerp Polyglott, printed . by Christopher Plantin (1569–1572, in 8 vols. folio) . ”