In preparation at the press at the same time as the Hypnerotomachia, the Epistole devotissime of Catherine of Siena is a profoundly different work. Famous for her visions and revelations, Catherine was canonized less than a century after her death in 1380, and has been named one of Italy's patron saints. Her surviving writings consist mainly of the letters published here. Shown a woodcut illustration depicting Catherine. Lovely enough in itself, it is also of interest because it displays for the first time a few letters of Aldus's new italic typeface, which was to become famous with the publication of the 1501 Virgil.
Exhibit
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