Paratexts of humanistic editions of Latin texts from Antiquity: title page, preface and colophon treatment in Martianus Capella’s editions (fifteenth and sixteenth centuries)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a method to study the editorial conception of the early humanistic prints of Latin classical authors. We have defined the set of relevant variables, —both paratextual and textual— which contribute to clarify the development of the printed editions during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, taking into account those which are usually involved in the interpretation of the elements that allow us to understand the conception of edition that underlies these early prints. This article analizes the external paratextual elements (title page, preface and colophon) on the basis of fifteenth and sixteenth centuries editions of Martianus Capella (1499‐1599).