Author: ALPHABETUM.- COPTIC.- EGYPTIAN.- Propaganda Fidei.-
Title: Alphabetum Cophtum sive Aegyptiacum.
Description: No place [Rome], No publ. (Typis Sac. Congregationis de Propaganda Fide). No date [ca. 1670]. 8vo. In modern marbled paper wrapper. (n4 = 4 lvs., unsigned). (8 printed pages of alphabet and syllables in Coptic type, page (8) w. 'reimprimatur' della Porta). (A few foxed spots.). (Libr. stamp on first page, oval w. 'Casa Franchi de Cavalieri'). Birrell & Garnett, pp. 4 - 6, item 9: 'The congregation de Propaganda Fide. Established in 1626 for propaganda among the Eastern peoples. Ferdinand II presented Illyrian types for a missal, and the Medicean and other Oriental types from the Stamperia Vaticana were added to its stock, while Stefano Paolini engraved others. It continued its existence throughout the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries: Bodoni received his early training there. In 1798 most of the types were taken to Paris ...Much of the type still remains at the Imprimerie Nationale to this day.': Updike, Printing Types, vol. I, pp. 181 - 184: 'The best period of this Office was during the last half of the 18th c. under the directorship of Ruggeri and Amaduzzi. ... the establishment had fonts for 44 languages. Specimens of these ... are important documents in the history of the founding and use of "exotic" fonts.': See Updike, Printing Types, vol. I, see pp. 134 - 135 & comp. pp. 181 - 184:

Keywords: linguistics fidae specimen Egypt 17th press Vatican W44