Illustrazione e decorazione libraria tra Quattro e Cinquecento. Produzione originale, imitazione e riuso nelle edizioni perugine del primo periodo

During the first decades after the invention of the printing press, the book went through a rapid evolution, in which illustrations and decorative apparatus-es played a major role. In a few years, woodcuts and engravings took over from hand-made decorations, illumination in the first place. Also, the new techniques were extensively used for the opening pages entirely new in the history of the book, such as the title-page. The entire process manifested itself in various ways in the different places and the city of Perugia, with its production, offers several interesting cases, including some pioneering experimentations. This ar-ticle is dedicated to those cases which also offer the occasion for further analy-sis concerning the political and cultural context in which the book-production developed