His book consists of two parts. First, an historical study of the Venetian Printing Press from its origin down to the fall of the Republic, based, in a large degree, upon the documents which form the second part of the book. In this study I trace the history of the Venetian press from its introduction, through the sixteenth century — noting especially how press legislation grew up, preceded by custom and practice, and then formulated in law; how the government dealt with such questions as copyright, protection, and censorship; how the Guild of Printers and Booksellers was founded and governed; how the book trade came under the in?uence of the Index and the Inquisitorial censorship, and how the Republic endeavoured to protect the trade, thereby involving itself in a long struggle with the Church of Rome — till we reach the slow decline of the Venetian press through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in spite of the legis lation which was designed to preserve it. I have called the work a study, rather than a history of the Venetian press, because I feel that a true history of that press would require far more bibliographical knowledge than I possess. This book will have fulfilled its purpose if it serves as a pioneer along a line of research which has never been adequately explored, except at its beginning, and then almost entirely from a bibliographical, not from an historical or legal point of View. The second part of the book contains the documents which served as a basis for the study. By far the larger part are published now for the first time. In some cases I have reprinted documents which have already seen the light, because 1 know that they are difficult of access to English students. These documents fall into several groups.