Editing Incunable (section)

==Statistical data==
[[File:Printing towns incunabula.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Printing centres in Europe]]
[[File:Incunabula distribution by Region.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Incunabula distribution by region]]
[[File:Incunabula BY language-08.svg|thumb|upright=1.1|right|Incunabula distribution by language]]

The data in this section were derived from the [[Incunabula Short-Title Catalogue]] (ISTC).<ref>[http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/istc/index.html BL.uk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312185857/http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/istc/index.html |date=12 March 2011 }}, consulted in 2007. The figures are subject to slight change as new copies are reported. Exact figures are given but should be treated as close estimates; they refer to extant editions.</ref>

The number of printing towns and cities stands at 282. These are situated in some 18 countries in terms of present-day boundaries. In descending order of the number of editions printed in each, these are: Italy, Germany, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, England, Austria, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Hungary (see diagram).

The following table shows the 20 main 15th-century printing locations; as with all data in this section, exact figures are given, but should be treated as close estimates (the total editions recorded in ISTC at August 2016 is 30,518):
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Town or city !! No. of editions !! % of ISTC recorded editions
|-
| [[Venice]]<ref>{{citation |work=Incunabula Short Title Catalogue |access-date= 3 December 2017 |url= http://data.cerl.org/istc/_search?query=data.imprint.imprint_place:%22Venice%22 |title= Index: Place of Publication: Venice }}</ref> || 3,549 || 12.5
|-
| [[Paris]]<ref>{{citation |work=Incunabula Short Title Catalogue |access-date= 3 December 2017 |url= http://data.cerl.org/istc/_search?query=data.imprint.imprint_place:%22Paris%22 |title= Index: Place of Publication: Paris }}</ref> || 2,764 || 9.7
|-
| [[Rome]]<ref>{{citation |work=Incunabula Short Title Catalogue |access-date= 3 December 2017 |url= http://data.cerl.org/istc/_search?query=data.imprint.imprint_place:%22Rome%22 |title= Index: Place of Publication: Rome }}</ref> || 1,922 || 6.8
|-
| [[Cologne]]<ref>{{citation |work=Incunabula Short Title Catalogue |access-date= 3 December 2017 |url= http://data.cerl.org/istc/_search?query=data.imprint.imprint_place:%22Cologne%22 |title= Index: Place of Publication: Cologne }}</ref> || 1,530 || 5.4
|-
| [[Lyon]]<ref>{{citation |work=Incunabula Short Title Catalogue |access-date= 3 December 2017 |url= http://data.cerl.org/istc/_search?query=data.imprint.imprint_place:%22Lyons%22 |title= Index: Place of Publication: Lyons }}</ref> || 1,364 || 4.8
|-
| [[Leipzig]]<ref>{{citation |work=Incunabula Short Title Catalogue |access-date= 3 December 2017 |url= http://data.cerl.org/istc/_search?query=data.imprint.imprint_place:%22Leipzig%22 |title= Index: Place of Publication: Leipzig }}</ref> || 1,337 || 4.7
|-
| [[Augsburg]]<ref>{{citation |work=Incunabula Short Title Catalogue |access-date= 3 December 2017 |url= http://data.cerl.org/istc/_search?query=data.imprint.imprint_place:%22Augsburg%22 |title= Index: Place of Publication: Augsburg }}</ref> || 1,219 || 4.3
|-
| [[Strasbourg]]<ref>{{citation |work=Incunabula Short Title Catalogue |access-date= 3 December 2017 |url= http://data.cerl.org/istc/_search?query=data.imprint.imprint_place:%22Strassburg%22 |title= Index: Place of Publication: Strassburg }}</ref> || 1,158 || 4.1
|-
| [[Milan]]<ref>{{citation |work=Incunabula Short Title Catalogue |access-date= 3 December 2017 |url= http://data.cerl.org/istc/_search?query=data.imprint.imprint_place:%22Milan%22 |title= Index: Place of Publication: Milan }}</ref> || 1,101 || 3.9
|-
| [[Nuremberg]]<ref>{{citation |work=Incunabula Short Title Catalogue |access-date= 3 December 2017 |url= http://data.cerl.org/istc/_search?query=data.imprint.imprint_place:%22Nuremberg%22 |title= Index: Place of Publication: Nuremberg }}</ref> || 1,051 || 3.7
|-
| [[Florence]]|| 801 || 2.8
|-
| [[Basel]]|| 786 || 2.8
|-
| [[Deventer]]|| 613 || 2.2
|-
| [[Bologna]]|| 559 || 2.0
|-
| [[Antwerp]]|| 440 || 1.5
|-
| [[Mainz]]|| 418 || 1.5
|-
| [[Ulm]]|| 398 || 1.4
|-
| [[Speyer]]|| 354 || 1.2
|-
| [[Pavia]]|| 337 || 1.2
|-
| [[Naples]]|| 323 || 1.1
|-
| '''TOTAL''' || 22,024 || 77.6
|}
The 18 languages that incunabula are printed in, in descending order, are: Latin, [[German language|German]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[French language|French]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], English, [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Czech language|Czech]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Church Slavonic]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Breton language|Breton]], [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Frisian languages|Frisian]] and [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] (see diagram).<!-- At least one incunabula is printed in Croatian language, according to the same source (https://data.cerl.org/istc/ic00190250)-->

Only about one edition in ten (i.e. just over 3,000) has any illustrations, [[woodcut]]s or [[metalcut]]s.

The "commonest" incunable is Schedel's ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'' ("Liber Chronicarum") of 1493, with about 1,250 surviving copies (which is also the most heavily illustrated). Many incunabula are unique, but on average about 18 copies survive of each. This makes the [[Gutenberg Bible]], at 48 or 49 known copies, a relatively common (though extremely valuable) edition. Counting extant incunabula is complicated by the fact that most libraries consider a single volume of a multi-volume work as a separate item, as well as fragments or copies lacking more than half the total leaves. A complete incunable may consist of a slip, or up to ten volumes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Are Incunables? - YTread |url=https://youtuberead.com/what-are-incunables |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=youtuberead.com |language=en}}</ref>

In terms of [[Book size|format]], the 30,000-odd editions comprise: 2,000 [[broadside (printing)|broadsides]], 9,000 [[Folio (printing)|folios]], 15,000 [[quarto]]s, 3,000 [[octavo]]s, 18 12mos, 230 16mos, 20 32mos, and 3 64mos.

ISTC at present cites 528 extant copies of books printed by [[William Caxton|Caxton]], which together with 128 fragments makes 656 in total, though many are broadsides or very imperfect (incomplete).{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

Apart from migration to mainly North American and Japanese universities, there has been little movement of incunabula in the last five centuries. None were printed in the [[Southern Hemisphere]], and the latter appears to possess fewer than 2,000 copies, while about 97.75% remain north of the equator. However, many incunabula are sold at auction or through the rare book trade every year.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}