He was disgusted with the slipshod efforts of the ignorant proprietors of these numerous printing shops, who were so eager to forestall one another that they could not pay any attention to the quality of their work, even assuming they had the aptitude for doing so. He took his stand upon his accomplishments alone, apparently not doubting for an instant that conscientious work, coupled with a superior education, would in the long run repay him for the years of anxious toil which he well knew would be his lot.
The Greek types of Rome, Milan, and Florence, hitherto in use, and all cut to a single pattern, were abominable, and Aldus commenced by casting types of his own. A fount of Roman and Italian letters consisted of only 24 capital and an equal number of small letters--the J and U were the same as I and V--but a complete collection of Greek types with all the varied accents and double characters, with which the language abounds, amounted to no less than 600. Many of these he was compelled at the outstart to forego, and he set to work upon his first book, the _Grammatica Græca_ of Lascaris, with barely a tithe of that number. It was well that Aldus should commence with this work, for it was the first which had been printed in Greek, some eighteen years previously by Paravisinus, of Milan, whose small and crabbed type presents a remarkable contrast to that of Manutius. Closely following upon this venture comes the _Editio Princeps_ of Aristotle, which, in its 5 vols. folio, is unquestionably the most splendid and lasting monument of the Aldine press. It was issued, one volume at a time, between the years 1495-8, and was sold by the editor and publisher for a sum equivalent to about £5 of our money. Next comes the _Editio Princeps_ of Aristophanes, also in folio, and dated 1498, which, like all the other productions of this press at that early date, was printed from large open types with broad margins. The expense of production and consequent cost of these sumptuous volumes were great, too great in fact to command a speedy sale, and Aldus at last began to realise that it was infinitely preferable to print and sell a large number of works at a cheap price than a smaller number at a high one. Accordingly he had a more minute fount of type cast, and in April, 1501, published his famous _Virgil_, a small book of 228 unpaged leaves, measuring not quite 8 inches by 4. The text, so it is said, was modelled after the neat handwriting of Petrarch, and became known throughout Italy as the Aldino type, though in France it was called _Italic_, the name it goes by to this day throughout Europe. This book was sold for about 2s. of our money, and was the first serious attempt ever made to produce cheap printed classics.