Nouum Testamentum Graece et Latine

If marginalia are transgressive, one could call this a crime of opportunity. Just as the blank space on the end papers of Holinshed’s Chronicles afforded the space for the wounded soldier, here the face – probably depicting Jesus, since this is a New Testament -- seen peeking out from within the O in “nOvum” demonstrates how marginalia interact with the text printed on the page. The large type and negative space within the letters afforded this reader the opportunity to insert a face into the New Testament title page. Furthermore, it is likely that these marginalia survive because they are within the title lettering. Throughout the nineteenth century, book collectors often tried to make renaissance books ‘new again,’ trimming away marginalia-felled edges or washing ink off pages. The fact that later readers would need the title of the book saved this face from manipulation. 

This image also recalls a tradition of illuminated letters in manuscripts. Rubication (the practice of using red ink to stand out against black ink) and illumination (illustration) were both ways for medieval scribes to emphasize different sections in a text or to highlight important passages. It is common for illumination to be integrated into particular letters, most often the first letter in a new text section. This example does not perfectly adhere to that trend since it is the second letter of the word that has been illustrated, but the act of integrating a human face into title lettering evokes this legacy of illumination.