Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream

The entirety of this page is covered in a decorative marbled paper pattern. It features distinct blue "spots" or "stones" set against a warm, brownish-tan background.

This specific style, often called "stone marbling," was a hallmark of bookbinding in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. To create this effect, a craftsman would drop pigments onto a bath of thickened liquid (called "size"), where they would spread into circular shapes. A sheet of paper was then carefully lowered onto the surface to "pick up" the floating design.

Marbled paper: A decorative paper produced through a water-surface design process, often used to line the inside covers of books.

Endpaper: The sheets of paper used by a bookbinder to attach the body of the book to its covers; these were often made of high-quality or decorative paper to protect the manuscript and provide a beautiful opening to the reader.