Christophe Plantin
Encyclopedia
Christophe Plantin (c. 1520 – 1 July 1589) was an influential Renaissance humanist and book printer and publisher
.
, probably in Touraine
or Saint-Avertin
, near the city of Tours
. He learned bookbinding and bookselling in Caen
. He married someone from Antwerp, and settled there in 1549 as a bookbinder.
In 1555, he opened his own printing establishment and soon became a leader of that trade. The first book he is known to have printed was La Institutione di una fanciulla nata nobilmente, by J. M. Bruto, with a French translation. This was soon followed by many other works in French and Latin, which in point of execution rivalled the best printing of his time. The art of engraving
then flourished in the Netherlands
, and Dutch engravers illustrated many of his editions. Around 1555, an arm wound appears to have led him to apply himself to typography
.
In 1562, while Plantin was absent in Paris, his workmen printed a heretical
pamphlet, which resulted in his goods being seized and sold. It seems, however, that he eventually recovered much of the value that was taken from him. In 1563, he associated himself with some friends to carry on his business on a larger scale. Among these friends were two grand-nephew
s of Daniel Bomberg
, who furnished him with the fine Hebrew typeface
s of that renowned Venetian
printer.
In November 1576, the Spaniards plundered
and partly burned Antwerp, and Plantin had to pay an exorbitant ransom. He established a branch of his firm in Paris
. In 1583, the states of Holland sought a typographer for the newly erected university at Leiden. Plantin moved there after leaving his much reduced business in Antwerp to his sons-in-law John Moerentorf (Jan Moretus) and Francis van Ravelinghen (Raphelengius). Plantin left his Leiden office to Raphelengius and returned to Antwerp after it became more settled, subsequent to its conquest by the prince of Parma
in 1585. Plantin laboured in Antwerp until his death.
in Hebrew, Latin
and Dutch
, his Corpus juris, Latin and Greek classics, and many other works produced at this period are renowned for their beautiful execution and accuracy. He also planned a much greater enterprise—the publication of a Biblia polyglotta, which would fix the original text of Old and New Testaments on a scientific basis. In spite of clerical opposition, he was supported by King Philip II of Spain
, who sent him the learned Benito Arias Montano
to lead the editorship. With Montano's zealous help, the work was finished in five years (1569-1573, 8 vols, folio). This work earned Plantin little profit, but resulted in Philip's granting him the privilege of printing all Roman Catholic liturgical book
s (missal
s, breviaries, etc.) for the states ruled by Philip, and the office of prototypo-graphus regius.
Besides the polyglot Bible, Plantin published many other works of note, such as editions of St. Augustine
and St. Jerome, the botanical
works of Dodonaeus
, Clusius and Lobelius
, and the description of the Netherlands by Guicciardini
. In 1575, his printing firm reckoned more than 20 presses and 73 workmen, in addition to a similar number that worked for him out of their homes.
Though outwardly a faithful son of the Catholic church, he was a lifelong supporter of a mystical sect of heretics. It is now proved that many of their books published without naming the printer came from his presses.
. Today, the building that housed the firm is called the Plantin-Moretus Museum
. Moretus and his descendants continued to print many works of note in officina Plantiniana, but the firm began to decline in the second half of the 17th century. It remained, however, in the possession of the Moretus family, which left everything in the office untouched, and when the city of Antwerp acquired (for 1.2 million francs) the old buildings with all their contents, the authorities created, with little trouble, the Musee Plantin, which opened on 19 August 1877.
In 1968, the Christophe Plantin Prize
was created in his memory, given to a Belgian civilian
who resides abroad, who has made significant contributions to cultural
, artistic or scientific activities.
Printer (publisher)
In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. With the invention of the moveable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, printing—and printers—proliferated throughout Europe.Today, printers are found...
.
Life
Plantin was born in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, probably in Touraine
Touraine
The Touraine is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, the Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher and Indre.-Geography:...
or Saint-Avertin
Saint-Avertin
Saint-Avertin is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.-References:* In the Gallo-Roman times, a hamlet called Vinciacum was set up near quarries where stones required for the building of Caesarodonum were extracted. The village took later the name of Vinçay. In 1162, St...
, near the city of Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
. He learned bookbinding and bookselling in Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
. He married someone from Antwerp, and settled there in 1549 as a bookbinder.
In 1555, he opened his own printing establishment and soon became a leader of that trade. The first book he is known to have printed was La Institutione di una fanciulla nata nobilmente, by J. M. Bruto, with a French translation. This was soon followed by many other works in French and Latin, which in point of execution rivalled the best printing of his time. The art of engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
then flourished in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and Dutch engravers illustrated many of his editions. Around 1555, an arm wound appears to have led him to apply himself to typography
Typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...
.
In 1562, while Plantin was absent in Paris, his workmen printed a heretical
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
pamphlet, which resulted in his goods being seized and sold. It seems, however, that he eventually recovered much of the value that was taken from him. In 1563, he associated himself with some friends to carry on his business on a larger scale. Among these friends were two grand-nephew
Nephew
Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...
s of Daniel Bomberg
Daniel Bomberg
Daniel Bomberg was an early printer of Hebrew language books. A Christian, born in Antwerp, he was primarily active in Venice between 1516 and 1549....
, who furnished him with the fine Hebrew typeface
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
s of that renowned Venetian
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
printer.
In November 1576, the Spaniards plundered
Sack of Antwerp
The sack of Antwerp or the Spanish Fury at Antwerp was an episode of the Eighty Years' War.On 4 November 1576, Spanish tercios began the sack of Antwerp, leading to three days of horror among the population of the city, which was the cultural, economic and financial center of the Netherlands. The...
and partly burned Antwerp, and Plantin had to pay an exorbitant ransom. He established a branch of his firm in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In 1583, the states of Holland sought a typographer for the newly erected university at Leiden. Plantin moved there after leaving his much reduced business in Antwerp to his sons-in-law John Moerentorf (Jan Moretus) and Francis van Ravelinghen (Raphelengius). Plantin left his Leiden office to Raphelengius and returned to Antwerp after it became more settled, subsequent to its conquest by the prince of Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
in 1585. Plantin laboured in Antwerp until his death.
Printing work
His most important work is the Biblia Regia, published between 1568 and 1572. His editions of the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
in Hebrew, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, his Corpus juris, Latin and Greek classics, and many other works produced at this period are renowned for their beautiful execution and accuracy. He also planned a much greater enterprise—the publication of a Biblia polyglotta, which would fix the original text of Old and New Testaments on a scientific basis. In spite of clerical opposition, he was supported by King Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
, who sent him the learned Benito Arias Montano
Benito Arias Montano
Benito Arias Montano , Spanish orientalist and editor of the Antwerp Polyglot, was born at Fregenal de la Sierra, in Extremadura, in 1527. After studying at the universities of Seville and Alcalá, he took orders about the year 1559. He became a clerical member of the Military Order of St...
to lead the editorship. With Montano's zealous help, the work was finished in five years (1569-1573, 8 vols, folio). This work earned Plantin little profit, but resulted in Philip's granting him the privilege of printing all Roman Catholic liturgical book
Liturgical book
A liturgical book is a book published by the authority of a church, that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services.-Roman Catholic:...
s (missal
Missal
A missal is a liturgical book containing all instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the year.-History:Before the compilation of such books, several books were used when celebrating Mass...
s, breviaries, etc.) for the states ruled by Philip, and the office of prototypo-graphus regius.
Besides the polyglot Bible, Plantin published many other works of note, such as editions of St. Augustine
St. Augustine
-People:* Augustine of Hippo or Augustine of Hippo , father of the Latin church* Augustine of Canterbury , first Archbishop of Canterbury* Augustine Webster, an English Catholic martyr.-Places:*St. Augustine, Florida, United States...
and St. Jerome, the botanical
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
works of Dodonaeus
Rembert Dodoens
Rembert Dodoens was a Flemish physician and botanist, also known under his Latinized name Rembertus Dodonaeus.-Biography:...
, Clusius and Lobelius
Matthias de Lobel
Mathias de l'Obel, Mathias de Lobel or Matthaeus Lobelius was born in Lille, Nord-Pas de Calais, France, and died at Highgate, London, England after serving as a physician to William, Prince of Orange and James I of England.Lobel studied medicine in Leuven and Montpellier...
, and the description of the Netherlands by Guicciardini
Francesco Guicciardini
Francesco Guicciardini was an Italian historian and statesman. A friend and critic of Niccolò Machiavelli, he is considered one of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance...
. In 1575, his printing firm reckoned more than 20 presses and 73 workmen, in addition to a similar number that worked for him out of their homes.
Though outwardly a faithful son of the Catholic church, he was a lifelong supporter of a mystical sect of heretics. It is now proved that many of their books published without naming the printer came from his presses.
Legacy
After Plantin's death, his firm was taken over by his son-in-law, Jan MoretusJan Moretus
Jan Moretus, also Johann Moerentorf or Joannes Moretus, was a Flemish printer. Moretus married the second daughter of the famous Antwerp publisher Christoffel Plantijn in 1570. He had been working for Plantijn since 1557, and after his death, Jan Moretus would became the owner of his printing...
. Today, the building that housed the firm is called the Plantin-Moretus Museum
Plantin-Moretus Museum
The Plantin-Moretus Museum is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium honouring the famous printers Christoffel Plantijn and Jan Moretus. It is located in their former residence and printing establishment, Plantin Press, at the Friday Market.- History :...
. Moretus and his descendants continued to print many works of note in officina Plantiniana, but the firm began to decline in the second half of the 17th century. It remained, however, in the possession of the Moretus family, which left everything in the office untouched, and when the city of Antwerp acquired (for 1.2 million francs) the old buildings with all their contents, the authorities created, with little trouble, the Musee Plantin, which opened on 19 August 1877.
In 1968, the Christophe Plantin Prize
Christophe Plantin Prize
The Christophe Plantin Prize , is a Belgian civilian prize, intended to reward a Belgian citizen who resides abroad, who has made significant contributions to cultural, artistic or scientific activities....
was created in his memory, given to a Belgian civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
who resides abroad, who has made significant contributions to cultural
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, artistic or scientific activities.
External links
Plantin Moretus Museum Biography of Christophe Plantin.- The Plantin-Moretus Museum.
- Bookbinding for Emperor Charles V by Plantijn. Treasure no.3 National Library of The Netherlands displayed via The European Library