Venetia, citta nobilissima et singolare
A 1581 Venetian guidebook by Francesco Sansovino, printed in Venice by the Sansovino press, written for travellers and readers wanting an account of the city. The pictures are small woodcut decorative initials, each a single letter set in a square frame with scrolling foliage, leaves and curls, and a designer could draw on their interlaced vine borders and capital-letter forms for period ornament.
