Matteo Capcasa was a printer and

typographer Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

from

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

, in Emilia in central Italy, which at that time was subject to the

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan (; ) was a state in Northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti of Milan, Visconti family, which had been ruling the city since 1277. At that time, ...

. He was active as a

book printer In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. Origins of printing The history of printers in publishing in Western Europe dates back to the mid-15th century wit ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

from 1485, when he printed a ''Vocabularium utriusque iuris'' (usually attributed to Jodocus of Erfurt) and an anonymous '' Fior di virtù''. His workshop was in in the sestiere of San Marco, where he worked with his brother Giovanni. In 1489 Capcasa began a collaboration with the Florentine publisher – and later also printer –

Lucantonio Giunti Lucantonio Giunti or Giunta (1457 – 3 April 1538) was a Republic of Florence, Florentine book publisher and printer, active in Venice from 1489, a member of the Giunti (printers), Giunti family of printers. His publishing business was success ...

, with three titles: the works of

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

; an anonymous translation into the '' volgare'' of the ''Transito de sancto Hieronymo'', partly by Eusebius Cremonensis; and a translation of the '' Imitatio Christi'', authorship of which was at that time attributed to

Jean Gerson Jean Charlier de Gerson (13 December 1363 – 12 July 1429) was a French scholar, educator, reformer, and poet, Chancellor of the University of Paris, a guiding light of the conciliar movement and one of the most prominent theologians at the Cou ...

. Capcasa then collaborated with Bernardino Benagli on a number of illustrated works, including a finely-illustrated ''

Divina Commedia The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest wor ...

'' of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

on 3 March 1491, with the new text and commentary of

Cristoforo Landino Cristoforo Landino (1424 in Pratovecchio, Casentino, Florence – 24 September 1498 in Borgo alla Collina, Casentino) was an Italian humanist and an important figure of the Florentine Renaissance. Biography From a family with ties to the C ...

; this Capcasa re-printed on his own account in 1493. Later in 1491 Capcasa fell seriously ill. After his recovery, he again collaborated with Giunti, on a further four works including the ''Dialogo della divina Provvidenza'' of

Catherine of Siena Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa (25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), known as Catherine of Siena, was an Italian mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, ...

. He also printed a number of books on his own account, including a reprint of the Dante from 1491, another ''Fior di virtù'', the ''Tragedies'' of Seneca and the ''Epigrammata'' of Giovanni Battista Cantalicio. In 1494 he printed two editions for the Florentine publisher Girolamo Biondo: the ''De coelesti vita'' of Giovanni da Ferrara, and the letters of

Marsilio Ficino Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver of Neo ...

. In July 1495 he completed printing the ''Epistolae'' of

Francesco Filelfo Francesco Filelfo (; 25 July 1398 – 31 July 1481) was an Italian Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist and author of the philosophic dialogue ''On Exile''. Biography Filelfo was born at Tolentino, in the March of Ancona. He is believed t ...

for the Milanese publisher Ottaviano Scotti. He died shortly thereafter.

References

Businesspeople from Parma Italian typographers and type designers Printers of incunabula 1495 deaths {{bots, deny=Citation bot