One of the first major publishing houses was Aldus. In fact today their bookmakers mark or colophon is still used today by Doubleday.

When you think of clean readable type and things like italic type faces you think Aldus Manutius.

Some of the earliest examples of a Hebrew Font came from Aldus. The first appearance in printed books of many classical authors from ancient Greece and Rome came from Aldus.

Aldus Manutius was a pivotal part of why books are so common today.

Over 100 editions of the 1,000 or so early books printed by Aldus are on display at the Aldus Manutius Exhibition in NYC.