Paulus Manutius

Paulus Manutius (/məˈnjuːʃiəs/; Italian: Paolo Manuzio; 12 June 1512 – 6 April 1574) was a Venetian printer with a humanist education, the third son of the famous printer Aldus Manutius and his wife Maria Torresano.¹

Life

As a young man, Paulus Manutius moved to Venice to get an education and was well received by his father's old friends Pietro Bembo, Ramberto, and Egnatio.¹ During Paulus' education his grandfather, Andrea Torresani and two uncles, Frederick and Francesco, carried on the Aldine Press. Andrea Torresani died in October 1528 which brought disputes between Paulus and his uncles that halted the work of the press for four years. In 1533 Paulus assumed direction of his father's business. In that first year alone, the press issued eleven titles. From 1536 to 1539, Paulus was involved in a lawsuit against his uncles in an effort to reclaim his father's italic type. In 1539, Paulus won.²

Paulus was a passionate Ciceronian, and perhaps his chief contributions to scholarship are the corrected editions of Cicero's letters and orations (Epistolae ad familiares in 1540, Epistolae ad Atticum and Epistolae ad Marcum Iunium Brutum et ad Quintum Ciceronem fratrem in 1547), his own epistles in a Ciceronian style, and his Latin version of Demosthenes' Philippics (Demosthenis orationes quattuor contra Philippum, 1549). Throughout his life he combined the occupations of a scholar and a printer. ³ As a scholar he is remembered for four elegant Latin treatises on Roman antiquities. His correct editions of the classics, printed in a splendid style, were highly esteemed, yet sales did not always support such productions; in 1556 he received for a time external support from the Venetian Academy founded by . But Badoer failed disgracefully in 1559, and the academy was extinct in 1562.