Out of Scope: Unexpected Titles in the Rare Book Collections

Guillaume Rouillé, also known as Roville or Rovillius (c. 1518-1589) was a bookseller-printer in Lyon who invented the sextodecimo pocket book format and also published many works of poetry, history, and medicine.

Promptuarii iconum insignorum (Promptuary of the Images of Renowned [People]) is an iconography and history book. The woodcut portraits included in the work are depicted as medals and are accompanied by brief biographies. Most of the 950+ portraits in the book are of English origin and portray both mythological and historical figures, starting with Adam and Eve.