Post by Kalev Hannes Leetaru

Here's a neat find. Among the collection is this 1698 Amsterdam printing by Chez George Gallet of Louis Moreri's Le Grand Dictionaire Historique, ou le Mélange Curieux de l’Histoire Sacrée et Profane (arguably one of the first encyclopedias and preceding Diderot's Encyclopedia by almost a century). This 328-year-old set survives in its original temporary thick wove paper wrappers with deckle edges just as it left the Amsterdam printing house three and a quarter centuries ago. While browsing through it recently we discovered this single page nestled carefully within the fourth volume: a late 17th-century Italian news pamphlet or gazette (often called an avviso or coranto) - specifically the "GIORNALE HISTORICO" (Historical Journal), "PARTE XXII" (Part 22). The colophon notes "In Ferrara, per il Filoni. Con licenza de' Superiori, e Priuilegio", meaning compilation of news dispatches gathered from various cities and reprinted locally for the people of Ferrara and appears dated to June-July 1694. Some previous owner of this book, possible three and a quarter centuries ago, carefully tucked this news pamphlet page into this encyclopedia, where it has remained untouched through 328 years until today... In the past, tracking down the source of a page like this would have taken a lot of effort, especially with uncommon ephemerals like this. Instead, we simply snapped a photo of the front and back and handed it off to Gemini, which produced this incredibly detailed overview not only of the events described on this leaf, but their broader historical importance and context. https://lnkd.in/eHeCxbkX