THE HOUSE OF PLANTIN.
1555-1650.
THE House established in Antwerp, in 1555, by Christophe Plantin
secured for itself high distinction among the printer-publishers of the
century, and, as well for the beauty and importance of the productions
of its presses, as by reason of the exceptional length of its history
as a business concern, it must always hold an honourable place in
the record of the great publishers of the world. Plantin’s work as a
pioneer was, however, not so difficult, so distinctive, or so important
as that of several of his great predecessors, such as Aldus, Badius,
Estienne, or Froben. At the time Plantin printed his first book, in
1555, a century had elapsed since the Press of Gutenberg had begun
its work, and the technical difficulties which had beset the earlier
printers had been very largely overcome; publishing machinery had been
created, and methods for the distribution of books had been arrived
at; while the scholars of the universities had learned to utilise
their attainments for editorial work, and fairly trustworthy texts of
the greater number of the world’s classics were already available in
printed form for the use of the compositors in the preparation of later
and possibly improved editions.
Unlike many of his famous predecessors and contemporaries among the
publishers, Plantin laid no claim to erudition, and although he was a
good linguist, he is not to be classed with the scholars of his time.
Nor would it be fair to say of him that he was actuated in his work by
as high ideals as those which impelled men like Aldus and Estienne. He
had, like them, literary ambitions, and a certain literary imagination,
but the question of direct profit filled a larger place and exercised
a more continued influence on his business policy and decision. In
religion and in politics Plantin was also evidently something of a
trimmer, and he was prepared from time to time, if not to sacrifice
convictions, yet to be very economical in the assertion of convictions
if reticence seemed likely to further commercial advantage.
While Plantin belongs, therefore, both chronologically and in personal
prestige, rather to the second than to the first grade of the earlier
printer-publishers, he is to be credited with the accomplishment of a
great work, and a work carried on in the face of many difficulties,
including wars, foreign and civil, the hampering censorship of the
Church, the bad faith of princes, his own over-optimism, and the
financial embarrassments resulting from these and from other causes.
As a result of his energy, creative capacity, and persistency, he was
able to overcome these serious obstacles and to impart such vitality to
his concern as to secure for it a life of three centuries, the longest
continued existence ever enjoyed by any publishing House. Its business,
begun in 1555, came to a close only in 1867, when the city of Antwerp
bought the printery in order to perpetuate its reputation through the
establishing of the Plantin Museum. The chief authority on the life of
Plantin and on the history of the publishing undertakings of his House,
is the beautiful memorial volume by Max Rooses, published in Antwerp in
1883. The full title is given in the Bibliography. To this work I am
chiefly indebted for the materials for the present chapter.
Christophe Plantin was born in 1514, in a village near Tours. He died
in Antwerp in 1589, continuing to the last year of his long life to
be active in his business affairs. He appears to have had what to-day
would be called a good school education; this included (what is to-day
not so common as a result of school training) a working knowledge
if not a full mastery of Latin, which, as the universal literary
language of the time, was an essential part of the training of all
printer-publishers. His work as a printer was begun in Paris, but
when he was twenty-five years of age, he moved to Caen, in Normandy,
a town which, in connection with its University, was already assuming
importance as a literary and publishing centre. The printing of books
in Caen had been begun by Durandas and Quijone as early as 1480, a
few years after the first German printers settled at Paris. Plantin
completed his apprenticeship with Macé (the second of the name) and, in
1546, married and moved to Antwerp, where he secured citizenship and
became a master-printer.
From the middle of the sixteenth century and until the time of the
great disasters brought on during the revolt of the Netherlands, the
“Spanish fury” of 1576, and the great siege of 1585, Antwerp was at
the height of its prosperity, and in the extent and varied character
of its commercial relations, it was, possibly, the leading city of
Europe. While the enterprise and the genius for commerce of the
Netherlanders had brought into their hands so large a proportion of the
trade of the world, the people were very far from being mere traders.
Their active-mindedness and incisive energy caused them to be keenly
interested in intellectual pursuits and in all pending issues in
religion, politics, and literature, while their sturdiness of character
gave them a respect for their own opinions and made them ready to
support these not only with arguments, but, when the time came, with
the devotion of their lives. It is probable that, except in Florence,
Venice, and a few other communities in Italy, there was no country
in the world in which during the sixteenth century intelligence and
cultivation were so widely diffused as in the Netherlands.
Before the life and death struggle with Spain, the differences between
Flanders and Brabant in the South and Holland and its sister provinces
to the North were much less strongly marked than was the case after
the division of the Netherlands had left one part Catholic and one
part Protestant, and had brought about, through exiling over both
borders, the concentration of the Protestants in the free provinces of
the North, and of the Catholics in the provinces which remained under
Spanish rule in the South. At the time of Plantin’s settlement in
Antwerp, Flanders (using this term to cover roughly the modern Belgium)
contained a large Protestant population, and the relations of the city
with the towns of the Northern provinces were active and intimate. The
neighbouring University of Louvain supplied the scholarly coöperation
which was so essential for all the publishing undertakings of the age,
while not a few scholars who, a few years later, found themselves
with the exiles in Leyden or in Amsterdam, were at that time resident
in Antwerp, and were already largely associated with the work of the
printing-press.
It will be recognised, therefore, that Antwerp possessed exceptional
advantages as a centre of book-production, advantages so great that
they could not be entirely destroyed even by “the Spanish fury,” the
disastrous siege, and the confirmation of the Spanish domination. In
fact, before the close of the fifteenth century, out of the sixty-five
printers who were at work in the Netherlands, no less than thirteen
were in Antwerp. At the time of Plantin’s arrival, an entire quarter of
the city was devoted to the making of books, a circumstance at the time
without a parallel among the cities of Europe.
Plantin began his work in Antwerp as a binder, but he shortly added
to his business a shop for books. In 1555, he entered upon his
responsibilities as a printer and publisher by the publication of
a small volume entitled _Institution d’une Fille de Noble Maison_.
This was followed, in the same year, by _Flores de l’anneo Seneca_,
translated into Spanish “with privilege of the magistracy.” The
following titles, selected from the publishing record and catalogues,
will give an impression of the general character of Plantin’s
undertakings during the earlier years of his career:
1556. “Le Favori du Court.”
“Comites Flandriæ,” by Jacob Meyer.
“Sossiego de Lalma” (in Spanish).
“Lettres Amoureuses de Messer Girolam Parabosque.” Translated from
Italian into French.
Almanacs and Calendars: the printing of these, begun in 1556,
continued for many years as a most important division of his
business.
1557. Liturgies.
“Vocabulaire François-Flameng,” by Meunier.
“La Grammaire Française,” by Meunier.
These two were printed at the expense of the author, to whom the
privilege was issued.
The Four Orations of Cicero against Catiline.
“Le Livre de la Victoire contre toutes tribulations.” Translated by
Doré.
“La Divine Philosophie de Vivre.”
1558. “Virgil,” “Horace,” “S. Jerome” (in Latin).
“Theologia Germanica.”
“Letters of Phalaris.”
“Isocrates.”
“Histoire et description de l’Ethiopée.”
“Theologia Germanica.” Printed (in Latin and French) with privilege
royal, having been approved by Alva or by his examiners.
“Chiromancie de Fricasse.”
1559. The “Decameron” of Boccaccio (in French).
“Le Nouveau Testament.”
Of the latter he printed 2500 copies. In 1560, he had remaining 372
copies.
A Description of the Funeral Ceremonies of Charles V. (a
magnificent folio, printed at the expense of Philip II.).
“Les Amours et Opuscules de Ronsard.”
“L’Histoire et description de l’Afrique,” par Jean Léon.
1560. “Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus,” by Olaus Magnus.
A portion of the edition was sold at Frankfort, while plates of the
illustrations were sold to Paul Aldus, in Venice.
“Le Premier Livre des Odes, de Charles de Rouillon,” _Avec grâce et
privilége du Roy_.
This privilege is given by the Privy Council in the name of the
King. The document certifies that the Odes “ne contiennent aucune
mauvaise secte ou doctrine.”
“Terentius,” “Catullus,” “Tibullus,” “Propertius.”
“Dictionnaire Tetraglotton.”
1561. “Amadis de Gaule.”
In this year, Plantin secured in all seven privileges.
1562. “Traité sur la Réformation,” by de Sainctes.
Boëthius, “De Consolatione Philosophiæ.”
1564. “Virgilii Opera.”
“The Psalms.” French Version (with royal privilege).
1565. “Plautus,” “Juvenal,” “Ovid.”
Reprints (issued apparently under arrangement with Paul Aldus) of
several of the Aldine classics.
1567. “Corpus Juris Civilis,” in ten volumes.
The writings of Galen, and a number of other medical and scientific
works.
The Breviary of the Council of Trent.
1568. “La Bible Royale, ou Bible Polyglotte,” edited by Arias
Montanus and his collaborators.
This was by far the most important work ever issued by the printers of
the Low Countries, and the most scholarly edition of the Scriptures
that had thus far been put into print. A polyglot Bible had been
planned by Aldus but he had not lived to complete it. In 1517, the
Cardinal Ximenes had had printed at Alcala a polyglot edition of the
Old Testament, and, in 1547, an edition of the Pentateuch, in Hebrew,
Latin, Greek, and Syrian, was printed in Constantinople under the
supervision of certain Jewish editors. Plantin secured for his Bible
a subvention (or at least the promise of a subvention) from King
Philip II. of 21,000 florins, which amount was to be repaid to the
King in copies of the book. The general editor, Bénoît Arias Montanus,
was appointed by the King, and Montanus associated with himself in
the editorial work certain members of the Theological Faculty of the
University of Louvain. The enterprise received also the coöperation
and support of Cardinal Granvelle. One of the most important and also
one of the most difficult parts of the undertaking was the securing
of the various privileges required to authorise the sale of the work
and to protect it from infringement in the several countries in which
a demand for it was expected. A general privilege was first obtained
from the Governor-General of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of the
King, and this secular authorisation was supplemented by a certificate
of orthodoxy issued by the Theological Faculty of Louvain, which was
naturally prepared to approve of its own work. The Pope, Pius V., or
his advisers, took the ground, however, that any general circulation
of the Scriptures might prove dangerous, and in spite of the approval
given to the work by the Catholic theologians of Louvain, he refused
to sanction its publication. This refusal blocked the undertaking for
some years, and brought upon Plantin serious financial difficulties in
connection with the heavy outlays already incurred. The history of the
undertaking presents a convenient example of the special difficulties
attending publishing enterprises of the time. The examiners or
censors, whether political or ecclesiastical, were prepared to make
their examinations and to arrive at decisions only when the work in
question was already in printed form. It was necessary, therefore,
that the expenses of the editing, type-setting, and printing should
be incurred before the publisher could ascertain whether or not the
publication would be permitted. It was quite possible also that the
plan of the publication might be approved by one authority while the
work, when completed, might fail to secure the sanction of some other
or succeeding authority. With Plantin’s _Bible_, the history took a
different course. Pope Gregory XIII., who succeeded Pius V., was
finally persuaded to give his approval to the work, and, in 1572, he
issued a privilege for it which gave to the publisher an exclusive
control for the term of twenty years, and which brought upon any
reprinter excommunication and a fine of two thousand livres. When the
papal sanction had been secured, the royal privilege covering all
the dominions of Spain, which, after first being issued, had been
withdrawn pending the papal decision, was confirmed for twenty years.
Other privileges were secured as follows: From Germany, in the name
of the Emperor Maximilian, for ten years; from France, in the name
of King Charles IX., for twenty years; from Venice, in the name of
the Doge and the Senate, for twenty years, and from Naples for twenty
years. Montanus, after finishing his editorial labours and supervising
the printing of the final sheets of the Bible, was obliged to devote
some years to travelling from Court to Court, and to a long sojourn
in Rome, in order to secure these privileges. Even after the work
had secured the approval of Gregory, it was vigorously attacked by a
group of the stricter Romanists, headed by Professor Leon de Castro,
of Salamanca. De Castro took the ground that the Vulgate had been
accepted by the Church as the authoritative text, and that all attempts
to go back to the original Hebrew, Greek, or Syriac, must, therefore,
be sacrilegious. As early as 1520, Noel Beda, Dean of the Faculty of
Theology of the Sorbonne, had taken similar ground in connection with
the editions of the Bible printed by Henry Estienne. Beda contended
that the study of Greek and Hebrew would bring religion into peril, as
it would tend to undermine the authority of the Vulgate. When Montanus,
after completing his work in Antwerp, returned to Spain, he was accused
of being a partisan of the Jews and an enemy of the Church, and was
threatened with a trial for heresy. He was able, however, through his
own scholarship and with the backing of the Pope, to hold his own
against his accusers, and no formal trial ever took place. He died in
Spain in 1598. He may be considered as the most distinguished of the
scholarly associates of the great Antwerp publisher, his relations
with whom were in many ways similar to those which had obtained half a
century earlier between Erasmus and Froben of Basel.
The polyglot Bible, the result of the enterprise and persistence of
Plantin, and of the erudition, independence of thought and courage
of Montanus, survived all the attacks that were made upon it, and
remains one of the greatest monuments as well of the erudition as of
the publishing enterprise of the sixteenth century. From a financial
point of view, the undertaking was, however, a failure. It had
probably been planned on too large a scale, while the outlays were
seriously increased and the returns from sales not a little delayed
and lessened in connection with the many obstacles in the issue of the
privileges, and in connection also with the serious assaults made upon
the orthodoxy of the book by certain Spanish ecclesiastics. The first
edition printed had comprised 1213 copies, a considerable proportion
of which were, five years later, still in the hands of the publishers.
Plantin was left heavily in debt, the amount of the deficiency being
increased by the failure of King Philip to complete the payment of the
promised subsidy.
The more important of the publications of Plantin’s Press which
followed the big Bible, are as follows:
1571. The “Psalterium,” printed with the aid of Cardinal Granvelle.
An “Index Expurgatorius,” prepared, under the direction of Philip
II., for the use of the censors throughout the kingdom.
The preparation of the “Index” was confided to a college or
commission of ecclesiastics sitting at Antwerp, and comprising,
among others, the Bishop of Louvain and Arias Montanus. The “Index”
specified what portions of the books condemned contained heretical
material, and the booksellers in each town were charged to cut
out the condemned pages and were permitted to sell the books thus
expurgated. The first of the “Indexes” issued in the Low Countries
had been printed in Louvain in 1546, by Seruacs van Sassen (see
reference later in this chapter).
1573. An “Antiphonaire,” printed with the aid of the Bishop of
Tournai.
The “Hours” of the Virgin.
For this work, the Pope gave to the publisher a privilege
(confirmed by his representative in Brussels) covering all the
countries of Europe.
1573. “Thesaurus Theutonicæ Linguæ,” a dictionary of French,
Flemish, and Latin.
This was edited by Cornelius Kiel, who was the most important of
the philological scholars associated with the Plantin Press.
“Vivæ Imagines Partium Corporis Humani.”
1575. “Corpus Civile, Pandectæ, Codicis Justiniani,” twelve books.
A long series of Greek and Latin texts.
“Origines Antwerpianæ,” by Becanius.
The author was a physician and an old friend of Plantin. His
treatise proves that Flemish is the most ancient of the mother
tongues of the world. The edition was paid for by the author, in
whose name the royal privilege was issued.
1576. The works of Tertullian, in three volumes.
“Historia Frumentorum,” with eighty-four plates.
1581. Works of S. Augustine, in ten volumes.
Works of S. Jerome, in five volumes.
Ortellius, the Geographer, Maps and “Theatrum Orbis.”
Mercator, the Maps of.
1583. “Stirpium Historia Pomptades Sex.”
A Description of the Netherlands, by Guicciardini, printed, with
many illustrations, in German, Latin, French, Flemish, and Italian.
The elaborate plans of the cities were paid for by the
municipalities interested. The author received as his compensation
one hundred and fifty florins and a number of copies of the book.
“Humanæ Salutus monumenta,” by Arias Montanus, with seventy-two
plates.
1575-85. A long series of Musical Works, for the text of which
special fonts had to be made.
In 1567, Plantin coöperated with Paul Manutius (the son of Aldus), who
was at that time established in Rome, in the production of a series of
Breviaries, eleven in all. Manutius had secured for the work a papal
privilege covering all the Catholic States, and as consideration for
the assignment of this privilege for the Netherlands, Plantin was to
pay one tenth of all the copies printed by him. A royal privilege,
confirming the papal sanction, was secured from Philip II., who also
advanced 2000 florins to facilitate the publication. Later, Plantin was
relieved from the payment to Manutius of the tenth, the Pope having
authorised, for the dominions of Philip, a somewhat different form of
Breviary. This undertaking proved very remunerative.
In 1557, Plantin’s consignment to the Frankfort Fair comprised no
less than 1200 volumes, together with a large assortment of prints
from copper plates. He was at this time, unquestionably, one of the
two leading publishers of the world, the other being Henry Estienne
of Geneva. In the publication of elaborately illustrated works, of
illustrations for separate sale, and of finely engraved maps, his work
represents an enormous advance over anything that had before been
attempted, and it is difficult to-day to understand how the resources
at his command and the markets within his reach could have been
sufficient to warrant the production of works of such magnitude and
costliness.
In 1562, a grave misfortune came upon Plantin, which caused serious
interruption to his business, and consequent loss. He was accused by
the Margrave of Antwerp of heresy, because there had been printed
in his establishment an edition of a treatise entitled _Brièfve
instruction pour prier_. Plantin was condemned _in absentio_ (he was
at the time in Paris) and his goods were seized and sold at auction.
He was able, however, later, to show that the book had been printed
during his absence and without his knowledge, and for the account not
of his own publishing concern but of some outside customer of the
printing-office, and he was finally acquitted. The more important
portion of the goods that had been sold at auction had been bought in
for him by personal friends, so that he was shortly again in a position
to go on with his business. Some of these friends supplied further
capital, and, in 1563, a company was organised for the printing and
publishing of books, of which company Plantin became manager.
Plantin came under suspicion of heresy a number of times, but he was
always able to present evidence of his orthodoxy in the Catholic
faith. It was, I understand, only after his death that the documents
were found showing that, as early as 1550, he had been a member of
a sect known as _La Famille de la Charité_, the leader of which was
Niclaes. Plantin printed for Niclaes (but without the imprint of his
printing-office) the _Spiegel der Gherechtigkeit_ or _Le Miroir de la
Justice_. He did not fail, however, during these years, to continue to
do whatever was requisite to preserve his good standing in the Church
of Rome, a course that was certainly judicious at a time when Antwerp
was in charge of rulers like Alva, and when the publisher was carrying
on undertakings which required the coöperation or the support of the
theologians of Louvain, of King Philip, and of the Pope. Whatever
the temptation or the necessities, it seems certain that Plantin was
willing, for the sake probably, in the main, of his business interests,
to act the part of a trimmer, and it must be admitted that he played
the rôle skilfully and successfully.
The censorship of the Press, as far at least as Germany and the Low
Countries were concerned, began with the time of Luther. Before the
burning of the Papal Bull at Wittenberg, the Press had enjoyed the same
measure of freedom as that accorded to other industries. On the 25th of
May, 1521, an imperial edict of Charles V. ordered that, thereafter,
all books must, before being printed, secure the approval of censors
appointed for the purpose under imperial authority. The first censors
so appointed were ecclesiastics, and the censorship appeared to have
reference only to matters of theological heresy. In the same year,
1521, the Diet of Worms placed under condemnation the writings of
Luther. All existing copies of these writings were ordered destroyed,
and those convicted of printing, selling, or reading the same were
adjudged guilty of treason (_lèse-majesté_).
In 1529, a further imperial edict forbade the printing of all books
containing the new heresies, and forbade also the printing (unless
with the special sanction of the Church) of any portion of the
Scriptures. The penalty for printing any book without the authorisation
of the Government was fixed at five florins gold. Two years later,
a supplementary edict added to this fine the punishment of public
exposure and of branding with a hot iron, or of having an eye put out
or the hand chopped off, as the judge might decide.
In 1550, an imperial ordinance punished with death those who printed or
published the books condemned in 1529, and the fine for printing other
books without authorisation was raised to twenty florins gold. No one
could become a printer without an imperial license. Booksellers could
open their packages only in the presence of the censors. They were
obliged to post in their shops the lists of books condemned, and also
the lists of the books kept in sale. The penalty for failure to do this
was fixed at one hundred florins. Under the direction of King Philip
II., the Inquisition took into its own hands, in all the countries of
his dominions, the supervision and censorship of the Press.
In 1895, Mr. A. M. Huntington, of New York, printed, at the De Vinne
Press, reproductions in facsimile of five of the _Indexes_ issued
during this period under the authority of Charles V., of Philip II.,
and of the Spanish Inquisition. The following brief summary will give
an impression of the purpose and character of the group of _Indexes_, a
group which can, I judge, be considered as fairly characteristic of the
whole series.
I. THE LOUVAIN INDEX OF 1546.
“Mandamêt der Keyserliicker Maiesteit vuytghegene int laer Xlvi.
Met Dintitulatie ende declaratie vande geroprobeerde boecken,
gheschiet beiden, Doctoren inde Faculteyt van Theologie in
D’universiteyt van Loeuen, Duer dordonnantie ende beuel der seluer
K. M.”
Text of the edict of his Imperial Majesty concerning books the
circulation of which is prohibited under the censorship of the
doctors of the Faculty of Theology in the University of Louvain;
issued in the year 1546; printed at Louvain by Seruacs van Sassen,
1546, with favour and privilege.
The monograph, which as printed in the edition of Mr. Huntington,
comprises about ninety pages, is made up as follows: I. The text
of the privilege. II. The full text of the edict (“Mandamêt”).
The edict closes with a list of the books the circulation of
which is permitted, a list which includes: the “Syntaxis” of
Erasmus, “Grammaticæ” by several authors, “Fabulae Æsopæ,” the
“Dialectica” and “Rhetorica” of Agricola, editions of the “Letters”
of Cicero, of the works of Virgil, Lucan, Horace, Cæsar, Livy,
the “Orations” of Cicero, the writings of Boëthius, the works of
Gaza and of Laskaris, the works of Lucian, of Isocrates, Xenophon,
Horace, Aristophanes, Hesiod, and Plutarch, and the “Orations” of
Demosthenes. III. An address to readers by the Theological Faculty
of Louvain. IV. A list of the forbidden books, comprising: the
editions of the Bible issued by Robert Estienne of Paris, Goinus
of Antwerp, Savoris of Lyons, Boule of Lyons, Cæsar of Antwerp,
Froben of Basel (this last was probably the edition with the notes
of Erasmus), Stelsium of Antwerp, Gabianus of Lyons, Regnault of
Paris, Gryphium of Paris, Paganus of Lyons, Münster of Basel, the
Greek editions of the Bible by Argentoratus. Dutch editions as
follows: Liesuelt of Antwerp, Vorsterma of Antwerp, Peeters of
Antwerp. Flemish editions as follows: by Martinus of Antwerp, by
Antoninus of Antwerp. Editions of the New Testament as follows:
by Robert Estienne of Paris, by Maranus of Antwerp, by Batman
of Antwerp. Editions of the New Testament in Dutch as follows:
by Gymmick of Cologne, by Cornelius of Antwerp, by Lieseult, by
Godifredus of Antwerp, by Keyser of Antwerp, by Petrus of Leyden,
by Van Loe of Antwerp, by Crom of Antwerp, by Mirdmans of Antwerp,
by Coch of Antwerp, by Claes of Antwerp, by Hage of Antwerp; the
New Testament in Flemish by De Monte of Antwerp, by Petrus of
Antwerp, and by Richart of Antwerp. This list includes in all
forty-nine editions of the Bible and of the New Testament. The
schedule of Bibles is followed by a list of works, also prohibited,
aggregating one hundred and fifty-eight titles. In addition to the
books prohibited by name, this division of the _Index_ includes
a prohibition of “all the writings” of the following authors:
Luther, Wiclif, Huss, Massilius of Padua, Oecolampadius, Zwingli,
Melanchthon, Lambertus, Pomerinus, Brunselsius, Justus Jonas. I add
a selection of the more noteworthy titles from the list of separate
works:
“Historia de Germanorum Origine.”
“Commentaria Pythagoræ poema.”
“Erasmi Scholia in Evangelium Secundum.”
“Matthaeum, Marcum, et Lucam.”
“Erasmi Postilla in Evangelia dominicalia, per totum annum.”
“Epitome Chronicorum Latine et Teutonice.”
“Agrippa de Vanitate Scientiarum.”
“Chronicon regum et regnorum, authore Paulo Constatino Phrygione.”
“In Joannis Catacuzeni contra fide Mahumeticam librû præfatio,
Gualteri Tigurini.”
“Geographia Universalis, Basileæ, per Petri.”
“Joachimi Camerarii Commentarii in Tusculano quæstionis Ciceronis.”
“Paidalogia Petri Mosellani.”
“Judocus Uvelichius de pronunciatione Rhetorica.”
“La Louainge du Mariage et recueil des Histoires de bonnes
(vertueuses) et illustres femmes, composée par Maistre Pierre de
Lesuanderie.”
The greater portion of the list is devoted to the controversial
works of Protestant writers, works which we should expect to
find in such an Index. It is, however, somewhat surprising that
the Divines of Louvain should have thought it necessary to place
their condemnation also upon such apparently innocent productions
as treatises on the origin of the “Germans” or on “Universal
Geography,” or on the “Tusculan Disputations” of Cicero, and it is
difficult to understand the ground on which these should have been
considered as likely to prove dangerous to the true Faith.
In the spelling of the titles, I have followed Mr. Huntington’s
text, which has, I understand, been reproduced from the original by
a photographic process.
The lists in the several _Indexes_ repeat titles very largely, and
in nearly all, after the writings of an author have been condemned
_in toto_ under some such head as “opera omnia,” a number of them
are afterwards condemned under their separate titles.
II. THE LOUVAIN INDEX OF 1550.
This comprises the following material: A catalogue of the books
condemned according to the judgment of the University of Louvain,
and under an edict of “his Cæsarean Majesty” (this list is in
part a repetition of that of 1546); a Bull of the Holy Father,
Pope Julius III., against all those possessing or reading copies
of the forbidden or condemned books; a further catalogue of books
previously condemned under the authority of the most illustrious
and reverend Lord Don Ferdinand of Valdes, Archbishop of Seville,
Inquisitor-General of the Council of the holy general Inquisition;
together with the edict of the apostolic inquisitors in the city of
Toledo, under whose decree the titles of several later books are
added to the original list. The _Index_ was printed in Toledo in
the office of Joh. de Ajala, in 1551. The title-page closes with a
clause inflicting excommunication and a fine of 50,000 maravedas
upon those who may sell or possess copies of the works condemned.
Following the title, comes an address to the reader from the Rector
and Faculty of the University.
The Louvain catalogue comprises 295 titles, of which 62 are of
works in Flemish and in Dutch, and 233 of works in Latin. The
Archbishop’s catalogue comprises 69 titles, of which 55 are of
works in Latin and 14 of works in Spanish. In the Louvain list are
included certain specific writings of Erasmus, and also his entire
works (“Opera Omnia”). Erasmus was himself the most distinguished
student whom Louvain had sent out. There are also editions of the
Bible as printed in Paris by Robert Estienne, the works of Luther,
Zwingli, Melanchthon and other Reformers, etc. The Latin books are
from presses in Paris, Antwerp, Basel, Cologne, The Hague, etc. The
Flemish and Dutch titles are from Antwerp, Ghent, Middelburg, and
Leyden. The Archbishop’s Latin list includes the Koran and “all
books containing the errors of Mahomet,” the writings of Servetus,
Œcolampadius, and Zwingli, and the “Colloquies” of Erasmus. His
Spanish list includes “all books printed in Hebrew,” and “all
theological works printed in Arabic”; also “all editions of the
Bible printed in the vulgar tongue.”
III. THE SAME LOUVAIN INDEX OF 1550.
Printed in Cordova, by Francisco Ferdinand in 1551. This volume
includes, in addition to the titles of the books condemned by
the Divines of Louvain, a list of thirty works sanctioned by the
University for use as text-books. Among these are a Syntax, a Greek
Grammar, a “Copia,” and a Guide to letter-writing, by Erasmus of
Rotterdam, volumes which under a strict construction of language
might naturally be understood to be included among the “Opera
Omnia” of Erasmus, condemned in the previous list.
Following the list of the text-books authorised, is the catalogue
of the books previously condemned by the Inquisition, comprising
eighty-five titles. This includes various writings of Erasmus,
Luther, Servetus, Melanchthon, Zwingli, and other Reformers, also
all versions of the Bible in Spanish or in other vulgar tongues.
IV. THE CORDOVA INDEX OF 1554.
This is described on its title-page as a “Censura Generalis contra
errores, quibus recentes haeretici Sacram Scriptorem asperserunt,
edita a supremo senatu Inquisitionis adversus hereticam provitatem
et apostasiam in Hispania, et aliis regnis, et dominiis Cæsareæ
Majestatis constituto.”
It was printed at Cordova by Francisco Ferdinand, and was sold for
forty maravedas.
The volume contains an edict of the King (printed in Spanish)
approving the list as constituted; a statement (printed in Latin)
from Ferdinand, Archbishop and Inquisitor-General, of the reasons
for the condemnation of the heretical interpretations that had
been permitted to obscure or to dishonour certain passages of the
Scriptures and also other Sacred writings; the same printed in
Spanish; an Introduction (_Præfatio_) to the list of condemned
texts; a list of the editions of the Bible which at this time call
for correction and condemnation.
The list comprises forty-seven editions. Of these, twenty-eight are
printed in Lyons, eight in Paris, six in Basel, three in Venice,
one in Antwerp and one in Tigurium. The Paris editions include
those of Robert Estienne, who was at this time engaged in his long
fight with the Sorbonne. The Lyons list contains the title of the
great Bible of Hugo, later reprinted by Koberger in Nuremberg. The
schedule of Bibles is followed by a list of one hundred and thirty
texts from the Old and New Testaments, together with the heretical
interpretations and the orthodox refutations and corrections of
these. Then comes a general condemnation of all the errors which
are to be found in the Bibles that have been thus corrupted by the
heretics, with an enumeration of the chapters misinterpreted. A
Bible printed at Basel by John Oporimus, receives the honour of a
special condemnation, with which the volume closes.
V. THE VALLADOLID INDEX OF 1559.
This is a catalogue of the books which are prohibited according to
the mandate of the most illustrious and reverend Doctor Ferdinand
of Seville, Inquisitor-General of Spain, and under the authority
of the Supreme Senate of the Holy Inquisition. It was printed at
Valladolid, by Sebastian Martinez, in 1559, and was sold for seven
reals.
The volume includes a special edict of the Archbishop, prohibiting
the printing of this _Index_ by any one but Martinez.
Following the title-page is a letter from Pope Paul IV. to
Ferdinand, setting forth the necessity of protecting the orthodox
faith against the assaults of the heretics.
The schedule of books prohibited comprises about 620 titles, of
which 350 are in Latin, 140 in Spanish, and 120 in Dutch. This is
followed by a supplementary list of 32 titles, comprising 12 in
German, 10 in French, and 10 in the (vulgar) Lusitanian tongue.
Among the noteworthy titles in the two schedules I find “The
Koran,” Commentaries on Aristotle by Hegendorf, a long series of
Bibles from the presses of Robert Estienne and others, the works of
Melanchthon, the works of Gesner, various writings of Hegendorf,
a long series of writings of Erasmus, specified by separate
titles, followed by his complete works, “Opera Omnia,” the works
of Bullinger, the works of Cornelius Agrippa, the works of Jerome
Cardan, the works of Calvin, Huss, Œcolampadius, and Servetus, the
“Commentaries” of Julius Cæsar, edited by Tigurinus, the works of
Reuchlin, the “Lexicon of Civil Law,” by Spiegel, the works of
Luther, Bucerus, and Börrhaus, the “De Officiis” of Cicero, edited
by Betuleus, the same, edited by Melanchthon, the writings of Peter
Martyr, the works of Dolet, the works of Ulrich von Hutten.
The Spanish list includes the versions in Spanish of several books
of Erasmus, who appears to have been one of the most thoroughly
“condemned” and at the same time one of the most widely circulated
authors of Europe; also all the editions in the vernacular of the
Old and New Testaments.
It was doubtless the case, as has been indicated in previous
chapters, that the general circulation of these official _Indexes_
had the effect of calling public attention to the books described
and unquestionably kept certain writings in demand which would
otherwise have been lost sight of very speedily.
The general circulation of the books of more permanent importance
was also materially furthered by the information given in these
official denunciations, information which was particularly
serviceable at a time when there were so many difficulties in the
way of making known to the public the existence of books. The
ecclesiastical condemnation undoubtedly blocked the use of certain
books as texts in the universities, but the surreptitious sales
probably more than offset the circulation which was lost in this
way. An incidental result was probably the furthering the sale
of unauthorised editions at the expense of those issued by the
authorised publishers. This interference was bitterly complained
of, for instance by Erasmus.
It is convenient to make reference here to the earlier regulations
for the censorship of the Press, as well in order to make clear the
conditions under which the publishers of Antwerp had to carry on their
business, as because Plantin himself held an important post among the
newly-appointed censors. In 1569, Philip II. instituted the office
of proto-typographer, or supervisor of printing for the Netherlands.
Master-printers applying to the supervisor for authorisation for a
work to be printed, must show the certificate of approval of the
diocesan bishop or of his vicar, and also of the local magistrate.
Printers were required to take an oath of conformity to the doctrines
of the Church as set forth by the Council of Trent. In 1570, Philip
II. appointed Plantin proto-typographer. No remuneration was attached
to the office, but the incumbent was freed from the duty of lodging
soldiers. The important service of the post for Plantin was, of
course, the increased facility it secured for him in obtaining
approvals and privileges for his own publications. The theologians of
Louvain (through whom the ecclesiastical censorship for Antwerp was,
in the main, carried on) were not likely to raise question concerning
the undertakings of the literary representative of the King. In fact,
after 1570, Plantin took the title of “Printer to the King,” a title
which proved of service during the years of war when the Southern
provinces were being harried for heretics by the Spanish officials.
Even the printer for the King could not, however, ensure the protection
and profitable continuance of his business during times of civil war,
and notwithstanding the pains he had taken to make himself safe with
both parties to the great contest, the period was, for Plantin (as
for Antwerp traders generally) one of serious difficulty, and nearly
brought him to ruin.
In 1576, the troubles which had for a number of years been gathering
force, brought about the league or union of the seventeen provinces,
described as the Pacification of Ghent, and in the same year came the
sack of Antwerp (known as the “Spanish Fury”). At this time Plantin
had twenty-five presses, and about one hundred and fifty employees.
According to his biographer, Rooses, the work of his printing-office
was not at any period of the struggle entirely stopped, but it had
gradually dwindled until, in 1585, when the authority of the King over
the city of Antwerp had been finally established, Plantin had but one
press at work, and that was the only press at the moment in operation
throughout the city. The war had brought about a separation of the
Netherlands, giving to the new Dutch Republic the Protestant States
of the North, and leaving under the control of Spain the territory
corresponding, in the main, to modern Belgium, the population of which
was (after the Protestants had been killed or driven into exile)
chiefly Catholic. One result of the contest and of this concentration
of Protestantism in the Republic was to transfer to Amsterdam the
larger share of the trade of which Antwerp had heretofore been the
centre, and with this general trade departed also, in great measure,
the publishing business and the literary activities of the city of the
Scheldt.
By the year 1585, the independence of the new Dutch Republic, while
not formally recognised until a number of years later, was practically
assured. In the Southern provinces, however, of which Antwerp was
the chief city, the authority of the Spanish King was restored. The
business of the city was resumed, but under sadly changed conditions.
The city itself had been seriously devastated by the siege and
ransacked by the Spanish troops. Many of the enterprising citizens who
had been leaders in its trade and in its civic history had lost their
lives, while many others, convicted or suspected of Protestant views,
had been forced into exile or had voluntarily cast in their lot with
their Protestant friends in the Dutch cities.
Antwerp was left impoverished as to both men and resources. Her ships
had disappeared, her commerce had been brought to a standstill. The war
had been harassing and exhausting also for the States of the Republic,
but they had won their independence, and had never lost their control
of the sea. Their losses in men were, in part at least, offset by
the immigration of Protestants from the provinces which had remained
subject to the Spanish yoke, while their losses in property were to be
speedily made good by the profits of a rapidly increasing trade.
Among the industries of Antwerp which suffered most seriously was,
as may easily be understood, that of the production of books. The
departing Protestants had taken with them much of the intellectual
life and of the literary activity of the city, while Amsterdam and
Leyden, free from the hampering restrictions of Catholic censorship,
presented many advantages for publishing undertakings. Plantin refused,
however, to be discouraged, and beginning his work again in 1585, with
one printing-press, was able in the course of the next two years to
reorganise an effective establishment. The office of proto-typographer
had fallen into desuetude, but Plantin still called himself Printer to
the King.
His first publication for the new year was an official list of the
books at that time under prohibition, a list comprising, in one hundred
and nineteen pages, some six hundred titles. Various similar lists had
been published during the preceding half century. In 1546, Charles V.
had had printed in Worms a list of heretical books the circulation and
possession of which were forbidden; and in the same year, the same
list, with a few additions, was printed in Louvain, by Van Sassen,
also under the instructions of Charles. A fuller specification of this
Louvain _Index_ of 1546 has been given on an earlier page. In 1551,
the Faculty of the Sorbonne published, through Jean André, of Paris, a
similar list. The first _Index Expurgatorius_ of the Inquisition was
printed in 1554, in Venice, by Julitus, and in 1559, this was reprinted
in Rome, in Aragon, at Pforzheim, and in Cologne. The four _Indexes_
printed in Spain between 1550 and 1559 have been already referred to.
There need, therefore, have been no lack of information on the part of
printers or booksellers as to the books the production and distribution
of which were forbidden under various penalties. It seems probable,
however, as previously said, that, with the possible exception of
Spain, the placing on the _Index_ of the title of a book, constituted
for it a valuable advertisement, serving to increase the circulation
of works of distinctive character, and even securing a continuity
of repute and of influence for not a few books of less intrinsic
importance which would otherwise have fallen into oblivion. It was
hardly effective, for instance, to prevent the printing of a book in
Paris, when the heretically disposed readers in France could easily
be reached by the productions of the presses of Geneva; and in like
manner, to the printers of Leyden and Amsterdam the censorship of the
Roman ecclesiastics was of no importance excepting as ensuring a demand
for their heretical publications among readers in the easily reached
territory of France or of the Spanish Netherlands.
The account books of Plantin have been preserved, giving the records of
his undertakings during the larger portion of his business activity.
Among the entries of disbursements which have an interest for readers
of to-day are those recording the payments for editorial service or for
other literary work. In a number of cases, these payments, whether to
authors or to editors, were made in the shape of copies of the book on
which the work had been done.
Thus, Jean Isaac received, in 1554, in full for the copyright of his
Hebrew Grammar, a hundred copies of the book, while, in the year
following, he was paid for his abridgment of the Hebrew Dictionary
of Pagnino, the sum of fifteen crowns. Dodonaeus, in 1565, accepted
fifty copies of his _Frumentorum Historia_ (which had been a very
expensive work to produce). Hunnaeus, in 1566, was given two hundred
copies of his _Dialectica_. Pierre de Savonne, for a treatise on
book-keeping, was paid, in 1567, forty-five florins and one hundred
copies; Guicciardini, for a Description of the Poetry of the Low
Countries, received eighty-two florins and fifty copies. Stadius,
for his _Commentaries_ on Florus, was paid, in 1567, twenty florins;
Carrion, for editorial work on _Sallust_, fourteen florins; Venutius,
for a Spanish translation of the _Theatrum Orbis_, was paid one hundred
florins; while Everaert, for the translation into Flemish of Porta’s
_Magia Naturalis_, received fifteen florins. The four theological
professors of Louvain who revised the _Bible Française_, were paid
each twenty-five florins.
Plantin had on his permanent staff a number of correctors and revisers.
Ghisebrecht, with a knowledge of Latin and Greek, and with capacity
to edit texts, received board and lodging and sixty florins yearly,
and Van der Eynde, with a somewhat larger range of scholarship, was
paid yearly one hundred and fifty to two hundred and ten florins.
Plantin had, in the organisation of his staff, a more complicated task
than had fallen upon his publishing predecessors. The books of Aldus,
Badius, and Estienne had been published almost exclusively in Latin or
in Greek. With the enlargement of the range in the demand for books
adapted for the wider education of the generation supplied by Plantin,
it became necessary to provide reading material in the vernacular.
Latin, while still the language of scholarship, was ceasing to be the
exclusive language of literature. It was further the case that the
publishing undertakings of the second half of the sixteenth century
were no longer limited to reissues of the works of classic writers.
Plantin’s list included the writings of a considerable number of
contemporary authors. The work of providing literature of the day for
readers of the day had begun to take shape, and Plantin was the first
of the mediæval publishers whose books were deliberately planned for
what to-day would be called a popular circulation. With this widening
of the circle of readers, came at once a problem which, for a capital
like Antwerp and for dominions like those of the King of Spain,
presented special complexities. Plantin’s catalogue of 1566 included
works in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, German, Spanish, Italian,
Flemish, Dutch, and English. In order properly to supervise for the
compositors the text of works in these various tongues, and in order to
ensure a correct reading of the proofs, it was, of course, necessary
to secure the services of editors, proof-readers, and compositors who
possessed a scholarly, or at least a working knowledge of the languages
in question. A similar requirement obtained in the publishing-office,
the business of which had to be conducted in three or four languages.
It was necessary, therefore, for Plantin’s purposes, to employ a
polyglot staff, a necessity which had obtained to a much smaller degree
with the contemporary publishers in Paris, Basel, or Nuremberg, and
which at that time hardly called for consideration in London.
Among the regulations of both the office and the workshop was one
forbidding the discussion of religious or political questions.
Bearing in mind the variety of nationality of the employees in the
establishment, and bearing in mind also the bitterness with which
religious and political questions were held at the time of the revolt
of the Dutch provinces, a regulation of this kind was certainly
sensible enough. Plantin had the reputation of being in his business
methods precise and systematic, and the records of his business which
have been preserved, present evidence to this effect. He was certainly
popular with his employees, although strict and exacting. He accepted,
in framing the regulations for the work of the establishment, the
coöperation of delegates from his own workmen, and in the few instances
in which serious differences of opinion arose, and in the one or two
cases of strikes, the difficulties were finally adjusted with the aid
of this coöperating committee of the workmen.
Of the more popular works published by him, the editions ranged from
one thousand to fifteen hundred copies.
Of the _Frumentorum Historia_ (issued in 1566) eight hundred copies
were printed. Of the sixteenmo edition of _Virgil_, issued in 1564, he
printed 2500 copies. An edition of the _Pentateuch_, printed in 1566,
comprised 3900 copies, while of the complete _Scriptures_, issued in
the succeeding year, the edition was 2500.
The selling prices of Plantin’s publications appear low as compared
with the prices of to-day, and taking into consideration the necessary
limitations of circulation. I quote a few examples selected from the
catalogue of 1576.
Pocket Classics, for each 6 sheets 1 sou.
Octavo Classics, for each 4 sheets 1 sou.
Virgil, octavo, 38 leaves 5 sous.
Horace, octavo 4 sous.
Horace, quarto, 86 leaves 25 sous.
Virgil, folio, 165 leaves 3 florins, 5 sous.
Euripides (in Greek) 27 leaves 7 sous.
Sophocles (in Greek) 14 leaves 6 sous.
“Biblia Hebraica” (in Hebrew), octavo, 125 leaves 45 sous.
The same in Latin, with the New Testament in Greek, 38 leaves 25 sous.
“Corpus Juris Civilis,” for each 3½ leaves 1 sou.
“Thesaurus Theutonicæ Lingual,” 70 leaves 30 sous.
“Humana Salutis Monumenta,” of Arias Montanus, with 72 plates, quarto,
11½ sheets 3 florins.
The “Bible Royale” (a publication on which, as before stated, there
was a serious deficiency), price to the public 70 florins.
To dealers 60 florins.
The florin of Plantin’s catalogue was the equivalent of about forty
cents. The average discount given by him to his book-selling customers
was fifteen per cent. The agent in charge of the Paris branch received
forty per cent.
In 1579, Plantin consigned to the Fair at Frankfort 5212 copies of
sixty-seven works. During 1570, he sent to his Paris agent books to the
value of 19,000 florins. Perez, of Salamanca, was his agent for Spain,
where a branch office was carried on at first for the account of the
Antwerp concern, and, later, as an independent House. The annual sales
through Salamanca of the Plantin publications ranged from 5000 florins
to 15,000 florins. In 1579, Plantin had in plan the establishment of a
branch in London, but in connection with the difficulties brought on
by the war, this scheme failed to take shape. To one correspondent in
London his sales, in 1568, amounted to 4400 florins.
The average price of a quarter of a sou per sheet made the cost of
an octavo volume of three hundred and twenty pages something less
than four francs. The paper and the ink used were of decidedly
better quality than those that can be purchased by the most exacting
publishers of to-day. Scholarly service could be obtained from
editors and authors at very moderate rates, while the labour of the
employees was also low priced. The general purchasing power of money
three centuries ago was far greater than to-day, and can possibly be
estimated between, for instance, Antwerp of 1560 and London of 1890,
as worth three times as much, valued by its equivalent in food and
clothing. In 1577, Plantin sold his shop in Paris to his agent Sonnius,
accepting for the business a sacrifice price. The Netherlands had been
devastated by years of war; trade was practically at a standstill, and
Plantin was in pressing need of funds.
In 1575, the University of Leyden was founded by William of Orange, in
commemoration of the success of the Dutch the year before in raising
the siege of the city. Notwithstanding the absorption of the resources
of the country in the fierce struggle for independence and for national
existence, the University secured almost at once an honourable position
and speedily became one of the most influential centres of scholarship
in Europe. The printing and publishing business of the town began with
the life of its University. The publishers secured important service
from the scholars of the Faculty, and were able on their part to do
much to further the work of higher education. The printing-office of
Louis Elzevir (the first) whose family name was, later, to become so
famous in the annals of publishing, had been established, but was
already in difficulties. In 1583, Plantin found it convenient to leave
Antwerp for a time, to escape the pressure of his creditors. The war
had undermined his business, and he was also seriously hampered by the
failure of King Philip to make payment of the amount due for the great
Bible, or to pay a certain pension which had been promised him and on
which he had been depending.
Plantin made his way to Leyden at the instance of the historian
Lipsius, whom he had known at Louvain and who had recently accepted a
Chair in the new University. He purchased the establishment in which
the work of Louis Elzevir had been begun three years before, and
he put Elzevir in charge of his Leyden presses. The founder of the
long line of printers was able thus to secure under the supervision
of the veteran Plantin a training which in later years stood him in
good stead. Louis Elzevir was himself one of the Protestant exiles
from Flanders, having begun his work as a binder in Louvain. Plantin
apparently had in view, for a time, a permanent removal of his home
and of his business interests to Leyden. He was discouraged about the
future of the half ruined city of Antwerp, and was indignant with
King Philip for his failure to fulfil the obligations on the strength
of which Plantin had entered upon important undertakings. He also
realised how important a group of the learned authors and editors upon
whose coöperation he was dependent for the scholarly portion of his
undertakings, had cast in their lot with the Protestants, while it was
further the case that the Protestant States presented a much better
market for the publisher than could be depended upon in the Catholic
communities where both the production and the reading of books were
supervised by a rigorous ecclesiastical censorship.
Plantin’s Catholic affiliations, and his old-time official connection
with the Spanish Government do not appear to have caused any difficulty
in his work in Leyden or to have aroused any serious antagonism on
the part of the sturdy Protestants of the University. If there was
any theological opposition, it was probably offset by the belief that
the settling in Leyden of the man who ranked as perhaps the greatest
printer-publisher in Europe, must bring prestige and advantage to both
city and University. It was doubtless on this ground that, in 1584,
Plantin received the appointment of Printer to the University. He was
the second to hold the position, his predecessor, Silvius, having
died in office. The annual stipend was fixed at two hundred florins.
Notwithstanding this honourable reception, Plantin could not make up
his mind to remain in Leyden. He was now an old man, and exile from
the city with which were connected nearly all the associations of
his long years of active life, was probably felt as a hardship. In
November, 1585, he transferred the Leyden printing to his son-in-law,
Raphelengius (who also succeeded him as Printer to the University) and
returned to Antwerp. There he met with criticism from his Catholic
friends, who had heard that he had become a heretic. He was able,
however, to make a successful defence of his orthodoxy, and there
seems, in fact, to have been no ground for the accusation that for the
sake of business advantage in Leyden, he had abjured the faith of his
fathers. One may gather, however, from his experience both in Leyden
and in Antwerp, that Plantin held his Catholic doctrine with no very
great strenuousness, and it was quite natural that his long association
with critical scholars, many of them Protestants, should have prevented
him from being in any way a fierce Romanist, and should have furthered
the development in him of a spirit of toleration. It is possible also
that his personal grievance against the King had strengthened the
indignation that any good citizen of Antwerp may well have felt at
the dogmatic and relentless policy which had brought such disasters
upon the city. Great as had been her misfortunes, however, the spirit
and energy of the Flemish capital had by no means been destroyed, and
by the time of Plantin’s return, a decided revival of the trade and
industries of the city had taken shape. In 1586, the printing and
publishing offices were reconstructed, and a year later the business
was fairly re-established, no less than forty works being issued within
the twelve months.
In 1589, was published the _Martyrology_ of Baronius, the last work
completed under Plantin’s personal supervision. He died in the latter
part of the same year, being then seventy-five years of age. By his
will, the larger portion of the property in Antwerp, together with
the responsibility for its direction, was left to his son-in-law,
John Moretus, who had for some years had a part in its management.
Plantin had no sons, but appears to have been exceptionally fortunate
in his sons-in-law. He had had seven daughters, six of whom lived to
be married. John Moretus was the husband of the eldest. The third
had married Raphelengien or Raphelengius, who had taken over, before
Plantin’s death, the printing-office at Leyden, and who, as Printer for
the University, issued an important series of scholarly and scientific
works. Later, he was made Professor of Hebrew, uniting with the
responsibilities of an instructor the work of a printer.
The printing and publishing business of the Plantin House in Antwerp
was largely expanded by Balthasar Moretus, son of John who died in
1641. The work of the printing establishment continued in the hands
of Plantin’s descendants until 1867, and the concern had, therefore,
a continuous existence of nearly three centuries, being at the time
its work terminated, probably the oldest book-manufacturing firm in
the world. In 1867, the buildings of the Plantin Press were purchased
by the city of Antwerp for 1,200,000 francs, and the Plantin Museum
was instituted. In this museum are exhibited all the details of
book-making in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, together
with the earlier records and correspondence of the firm, the series
of which has been preserved nearly complete. As far as can be judged
from this correspondence, and from memoirs of the men of letters
and others with whom the great Antwerp publisher had dealings, his
relations with his authors, editors, and correspondents generally
were thoroughly harmonious and satisfactory both ways. The years of
Plantin’s business career had been troublous ones, and had brought with
them many disasters, losses, and perplexities. He appears, however, to
have been exceptionally successful in avoiding quarrels and disputes.
The only client with whom he had an issue was King Philip, and the only
lawsuit in which he was engaged was that brought against him for heresy
(_in absentio_) by the censorship of Antwerp. This is an extremely
creditable record for a publisher who carried on such extended and
varied undertakings, and who, in many of his arrangements with authors,
was obliged himself to make the business precedents. The authors must
have been fairly satisfied, for in the long series of the letters of
the publishing business, there are practically no complaints; and there
is no record of anything in the shape of an issue or even of a serious
difference of opinion between Plantin and any of his correspondents,
either commercial or literary.[132] Lipsius, writing to Montanus (while
Plantin was still active), says: _Si la race de Plantin venait à
faillir, je ne croirais plus à personne au monde; l’amour et confiance
que l’auteur de la ligne m’a inspirée, je les transporte sur tous ses
proches_. After the death of the publisher, Lipsius speaks of him
as _l’ami qu’il avait aimé et qui l’avait aimé plus fidèlement que
personne_.
Plantin read, wrote, and spoke French, Spanish, German, Flemish, and
Latin, and had some knowledge of English and Italian. While making no
claim to scholarship, he had scholarly tastes and ideals, and he knew
how to select scholars as associates and workers in the undertakings
planned by him. He may also be classed with the artists. In the
sixteenth century, typography was a liberal art, and Plantin was in
typography an artist and a liberal artist. He was, further, also the
first publisher to associate with typography on any large scale the
work of the engraver, and the series of copper plates produced under
his direction for his great series of illustrated works, constituted
an enormous advance in artistic publishing. While Plantin cannot take
rank with Aldus as a great man, he may fairly be described as a great
publisher. He possessed imagination, courage, high ideals, and public
spirit, and he showed himself not infrequently more ambitious to do
important work for literature than to amass wealth.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]