La Dafne
La Dafne is a 1600 Florentine libretto by composer Jacopo Peri and poet Ottavio Rinuccini, printed in Florence by Giorgio Marescotti for readers of early opera. The pictures are small woodcut ornaments: a decorated initial D with a grotesque face, a ship within a scrolled cartouche, a heraldic shield beside printed text, and a square decorated initial O. A designer could borrow their dense, symmetrical strapwork and the framing of letters within ornamental borders.
