The principal purpose of this book, as with other volumes in the Pepin Press Design Series, is to present a vast selection of designs. For this particular book, they have all been selected from one of the world?s foremost paper collections, amassed over a period of twenty years by Jacques Koops, restorer of antique books and prints, and Johannes Marcus, antiquarian book dealer from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The designs can often be better appreciated with a basic understanding of reproductions techniques. For his reason, a short description of each technique is given at the beginning of each chapter, as well as information about the sources of the designs.