Matriculation Register of the Rectorate of the University of Basel, Volume 2 (1586-1653)
A matriculation register of the University of Basel, kept by its rectorate from the late sixteenth century into the mid-seventeenth, written and decorated by hand for the university's own administration and students. Its title pages are painted manuscript frames: gilded and coloured cartouches with scrolls, putti, fruit swags, and heraldic shields, with the year and rector's name set in lettered panels. A designer could draw on their balanced symmetrical framing, pastel and gold palette, and the way text blocks sit inside ornamental borders.
