Plantin Press
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The Plantin Press at Antwerp was one of the focal centers of the fine printed book in the 16th century. Christophe Plantin (ca 1520 - 1589) of Touraine, trained as a bookbinder, fled from Paris, where at least one printer had recently been burned at the stake for heresy, for Antwerp, where he bound books became a citizen, and by 1555 began to print books, at first for distribution by other publishers. The city was already an established center of printing woodcuts, engravings and books. Plantin took on an assistant, Jan Moretus (Moerentorf), who read Latin and Greek, could write correspondence in several modern languages, became Plantin's business manager, son-in-law and eventually his successor in the Plantin printing press. For over two hundred years the Plantin press had a monopoly, granted by Rome, for the printing of liturgical formularies, yet in 1562, suspected of heresy, Plantin fled to France for two years. At an auction of his press, friends bought up his equipment on his behalf.
After 1564, when Plantin set up again in a new shop at the sign of De Gulden Passer ("The Golden Compasses") the printers mark of the House of Plantin, which often appeared in a vignette on the title page of books from the press, depicts a compass, angels, and the motto Labore et Constancia ("By Labor and Constancy") which epitomizes the life of the publisher. Plantin's successors continued the press at Antwerp until 1867. His Antwerp building is now a large museum holding examples of the tools of his trade and more than 30,000 volumes.
Like the printer Robert Estienne Plantin exposed galley proofs of his works in front of his establishment and promised a reward to anyone who could find faults. Plantin was a friend of the painter Peter Paul Rubens who did drawings for his publications and also some portraits of the Plantin-Moretus family.
Some outstanding books published by the Plantin Press, by year:
- La Institutione di una Fanciulla Nata Nobilmente. L'Institution d'une Jeune Fille de Noble Maison. Traduuite de langue Tuscan en François. Plantin's first printed book, a Tuscan manual on the education of young girls of good family.
- (an album of plates commemorating the funeral of the Emperor Charles V, 1559)
- Dictionarium Tetraglotton 1562. a dictionary in Greek, Latin, French and Flemish
- The Polyglot Bible, 1572. Plantin's most famous project, in the works since 1567, a bible in eight folio volumes, in Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Syriac and Aramaic.
- Abraham Ortelius, Theatrum orbis terrarum 1584 and 1598 (first published 1570)
The house is now the Plantin-Moretus Museum. In 2005 UNESCO put the museum on the list of World Heritage as the first museum ever.
