16.10.2004 - 16.01.2005
The first part of this double exhibition was devoted to the type samples of Christophe Plantin. The second part dealt with the graphic techniques of book illustration, from the 15th century to the present day.
Typography
Plantin’s type samples were created for him by the best type designers and engravers of the time. His letter sets formed the basis for the high quality and variety of his typography. They were without equal anywhere in the world.
Graphic techniques
The second part of the exhibition presented the development of graphic techniques in book illustration from the late 15th century to the present day. Here too, Plantin’s decisive significance was clear. From 1566, he increasingly shifted the focus to copperplate instead of woodcut for book illustrations.
Rich collection
For ABC 2004. Sampling Letters, Appreciating Prints, the Museum drew on the rich collections of the Print Cabinet, which holds a total of 77,507 pieces of art. The exhibition also showed book illustration material from the Officina Plantiniana, selected from some 650 design drawings, 2,846 copperplate engravings, 13,791 woodblocks and documents from the Plantin-Moretus Archive, including work by late-16th and 17th-century Antwerp masters, foremost among them being Peter Paul Rubens.
