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Plantin

Full Name: Christophe Plantin

Achievements: Leading early printer

Born: 1514 or 1520; Saint-Avertin, near Tours, France

Died: July 1, 1589; Antwerp, Belgium (Aged about 69)

Field & Discipline: Business; Printer

Language: French

Father: Unknown

Mother: Unknown

Siblings: Unknown

Spouse: Unknown

Children: Martina

Education: Unknown

Major Work:

“Biblia Polyglotta” (1569-73)

Life & Times:

From 1535 until 1540 Plantin studied the art of book-binding and printing with the typographer, Robert Macé at Caen in Normandy. After a short spell in Paris, in 1549 he went to Antwerp in the Netherlands, then at the centre of European printing, where he opened a book-bindery, and soon became famous for his beautiful inlaid bindings and covers.

In 1555 he opened his first print shop. Within five years, Plantin was the top printer of his time, thanks to the perfection and beauty of his typography, and the number of his publications distinguished by his use of copper (instead of wood) engravings for illustrations.

In 1562, Plantin, who was known to have Protestant sympathies, was charged by the Spanish Inquisition with involvement with two religious reformers and had to escape from Antwerp. It was only two centuries later that his close relations with the sect called the “Famille de la Charité” (“Family of Love”) came to light, and that he had printed the works of heretics.

In 1563 Plantin was allowed to return to Antwerp, the year the Pope issued the decision of the [work influenced by] Council of Trent* to publish standard works of all liturgical texts.

Three years later, Plantin wrote to the secretary of [worked for] Philip II of Spain* (also ruler of the Netherlands), to suggest a reprint of the 1522 Polyglot Bible (a single Bible in several languages), with the Old Testament set parallel in columns of Hebrew, Latin and Greek, and the New Testament in Greek and Latin.

Plantin's new "scientific" version of the Bible, however, would also be printed in Syriac and Aramaic, and include extra volumes containing the most modern data on everything from Biblical genealogies to maps of the Holy Land, notes on Hebrew, plans of the Temple in Jerusalem, Jewish antiques, histories of the tribes of Israel, notes on Biblical coins, weights and measures, Aramaic, Syriac, Greek and Hebrew dictionaries and grammars, variant readings of text, discussions on the meaning of the terminology used, indexes and eighteen essays on archaeological and philosophical matters.

In 1568 Plantin's proofs won Philip's support and permission to publish, and five French and Flemish scholars began work under the supervision of Philip’s theological adviser, Benito Arias Montano, who worked on the enterprise eleven hours every day for four years. In 1572 Plantin finally printed 1,212 copies of the new eight-volume work, now known as the “Biblia Polyglotta” (“Polyglot Bible”) or “Biblia Regia” (“Royal Bible”). Plantin’s Bible led to a further lucrative contract with Philip II (and later directly with Rome) to supply other Hebrew, Latin, Spanish and Dutch bibles, 18,370 breviaries, 16,755 missals, 9120 books of liturgy, 3,200 hymnals, 450 diurnals and 4,500 assorted sacred books.

In 1573 Philip II appointed Plantin Royal Printer of these newly-edited breviaries, missals, psalters, and other liturgical texts which were sent to Spain and the New World in great numbers at the king's expense. Plantin also published many new editions of the classics, works on jurisprudence, and the new expanded “Index of Prohibited Books” of 1568.

By this time Plantin also had a network of agents or offices throughout Europe, from Bergen to North Africa, with which he ran the biggest, continent-wide printing industry, as well as a profitable sideline in the import and export of plums, wines, French lingerie, fancy leather goods, mirrors and scales.

The extensive character of Plantin's undertakings is shown by the fact that between 1555 and 1589 he published over 1,600 works (83 in 1575 alone), and that his press room at this contained twenty-two presses. His editions, as a rule, consisted of from 1,200 to 1,500 copies, although in some cases considerably more - for example 3,900 copies of his Hebrew Bible were printed.

His fame also brought him many distinguished scientific commissions, and from 1570 onwards he published, among many others, the many editions and translations of such landmarks in cartography, cosmography and navigation as [published] Ortelius'* “Theatrum orbis terrarum” (1570), [published] Mercator's* revised version of his famous map of Europe “Europae Descriptio Emendata” (1572) and [published] Waghenaer's* two-volume “Spieghel der Zeervaerdt” (1584).

In 1576 Plantin's publication of liturgical texts was interrupted when Antwerp was plundered by the Spaniards. Forced to pay a ransom so as to leave the city in safety, Plantin established a new branch office in Paris. In 1583 he then settled in Leyden as the typographer of the new university of the states of Holland, leaving his much-reduced business in Antwerp in the hands of his sons-in-law, John Moerentorf (Moretus) and

Francis van Ravelinghen (Raphelengius).

In Leyden, Plantin established a second-hand book shop and a small printing office with three presses, but by this time his health was beginning to fail. In 1585 Raphelengius took over the business at Leiden, and Plantin returned to Antwerp, where, until his death in 1589, he endeavored by the sale of his “Bible Regia” to indemnify himself for the loss of the twenty thousand florins which he was still owed by Philip II.

These losses were finally made good after his death through the Plantin monopoly on the printing of liturgical texts, which he had obtained first from Philip II and then directly from Rome, a privilege which his successors retained and which became a source of great profit throughout the next two centuries.

After his death Moretus ran the Antwerp printing house and published [published] Linschoten's* “Itinerario” (1596) and [published] Plancius'* “Orbis terrarum typus” (world map, 1594).

During the second half of the 17th century the busness declined, but the house was perfectly preserved, and in 1876 the city of Antwerp acquired the buildings and their contents and created the Plantin-Moretus Museum, where printing on the original presses can still be seen.

Extra Connections: His grandson went to school with [knew] Rubens*

Assessment: Christophe Plantin was an important 16th-century printer, who at

the height of his fame had the biggest publishing house in Europe, with 22 presses, nearly 200 workers and an organisation five times the size of his nearest rival.

Oneliner: Christophe Plantin, leading 16th-century printer

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