Woodward, David, Catalogue of Watermarks in Italian Printed Maps ca 1540-1600.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.  ISBN 0-226-90727-9.  9½x7 inches; 205 pp. Cloth.  ($65.00).

The prolific David Woodward, well known as editor of The History of Cartography, has returned to his work in watermarks and the tools used in their study.  Watermarks are one of the bibliographer's methods for dating the paper of the period.  335 photographs of beta-radiograph images of watermarks are catalogued, mostly from sixteenth century Italian maps in composite atlases printed in Rome and Venice.  These images reveal minute variations that are almost invisible to the eye.  Entries include a description of the watermark mould, with a description and numerical code based on the practice of the International Standard for the Registration of Watermarks published by the International Association of Paper Historians.  The catalogue is organized by image categories of watermarks, with a line drawing supplement to aid in identification.  One can scan for familiar names with the year of the paper: Lafreri, Duchetti, Forlani, Gastaldi -  and some less well known.

Jon K. Rosenthal, 1998