Printing the Gospels in Arabic in Rome in 1590

This essay looks at the history of the Medici Oriental Press, established in Rome in 1584 by cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici, with the specific purpose of printing in Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, and other Middle-Eastern scripts. The punch-cutting was conducted to Robert Granjon, while the running of the printing operation was entrusted to the Arabic scholar and university professor, Giovanni Battista Raimondi. The most prestigious publication by the press was the double issue in 1590-91 of the Gospels, both in Arabic and in Arabic with a Latin interlinear gloss, with woodblock illustrations designed by Antonio Tempesta and cut by Antonio Parasole. The original woodblocks were recently rediscovered and are now owned by the Green Family of Oklahoma City. Except for the first sheet, both issues were printed with a single setting of the Arabic type, with the formes rearranged to accomodate the interlinear gloss