Venerabilis Bedae presbyteri De temporibus, siue, De sex aetatibus huius seculi liber incipit. P. Victoris De regionibus urbis Rome libellus aureus
This is a 1509 Venetian printed edition of Bede's chronological treatise on the six ages of the world, bound with Publius Victor's description of Rome, printed by Giovanni Tacuino for a scholarly readership. The page opens with a large decorated initial D enclosing two figures who hold up a central vessel, above Gothic-style black letter text. A designer might take the dense, carved initial and its symmetrical figure framing as a model for ornamental capitals.
