Aldus Manutius, 1450(?)-1516

``Aldus did not reduce book prices, at least not uniformly, and it is highly improbable that he was reaching towards a mass-market.
What he did achieve was to raise the prestige of the mass-produced book by convincing a more exclusive market that it was reputable.
...

But as the manuscript disappeared, a great part of Aldus' world disappeared with it ...
If Aldus died a melancholy man, it was not without reason: for he had played a great part in destroying the world that had created him, and he could not yet foresee the veneration in which he would be held by the new world that he was calling into being.''

From The World of Aldus Manutius,
by Martin Lowry, 1979.