Dr. Rosenbach styled himself a descendant of the early Spanish printer Johann Rosenbach, and actively acquired books printed by him. This volume is one of the first printed books to feature a true title page (most books at the time began with an index). The woodcut gives all of the information necessary to “judge the book by its cover”: title, author’s name, and a portrait of the author at his writing desk. The inclusion of women of different ages and classes in the illustration implies broad subject matter, though not readership, since only a tiny percentage of late medieval women could read.

Franciscus Ximenes, Libre de les dones. Barcelona: Johann Rosenbach, 8 May 1495. Incun 495x