The first edition of this monumental work opens with a 170 page history of the Giunti publishing family that covers their achievements in Italy, Spain and France from 1489 to 1628. As the great rivals of the Aldine Press, the Giunti aggressively captured large portions of the lucrative governmental and Church's printing business. From their base in Florence and Venice, family members set up printing presses in Burgos, Salamanca, Madrid, Valladolid, Lerma and Lyons. In Spain they became printers to the most powerful King in the world and established "The Imprenta Real," changing their name to "Junta." The comprehensive, 700 page bibliography of the books they published while in Spain is annotated with more than 148 wood cuts of their ornate title page art, imprints, and other identifying ornaments. The text also features the genealogical charts of the family, library holdings, and a documentary chronology.

The author, William Pettas, has researched this early printing family for over twenty years, and this is his second work on this important clan. A very readable and valuable contribution to the history of the book and an important bibliography and reference work.