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Old printed books

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Anna Goos

Coming from a wealthy patrician family, at around the age of eighteen Anna Goos (1627-1691) married Balthasar II Moretus, twelve years her senior. Especially after the death of her husband in 1673, she proved to have a strong character and considerable entrepreneurial ability.

Martina Plantin

Martina Plantin (1550-1616) was the second daughter of Christophe Plantin and Jeanne Rivière. As the wife of Jan I Moretus, it was from her that the printing dynasty was descended, starting with her sons Balthasar I and Jan II, who jointly inherited the bookshop and print shop.

Maria-Theresia Borrekens

Maria-Theresia Borrekens (1728-1797) was married to Franciscus Joannes Moretus, son of Joannes Jacobus and Theresia Mechtildis Schilders. The daughter of a knight, Engelbert Borrekens, she herself came from a rich and noble family.

Anna-Marie de Neuf

Anna-Maria De Neuf (1654 – 1714), wife of Balthasar III, became a widow at 42 years old. She headed the company for nearly 20 years and led the company through the crisis following the War of the Spanisch Succession. She reduced working hours for her employees.

SHARP Conference “Religions of the Book”

The annual conference of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP) was held in Antwerp in September 2014. The Museum Plantin-Moretus was closely involved as a partner in organising this major conference on book history.

Leading ladies

The house and the familyowned company survived for three hundred years. This was largely the work of a group of strong, emancipated women. Their names are Martina Plantin (1550 – 1616), Anna Goos (1627 – 1691), Anna-Maria de Neuf (1654 – 1714) and Maria-Theresia Borrekens (1728 – 1797). They managed the company for long periods of time, guaranteeing its continuity.

The Magic of Type Design

10.09.2011 - 02.10.2011 | In The Magic of Type Design: from Sketch to Digital Letter, young designers exhibited their typefaces in the Museum. All of them were attending the Expert Classes at the Plantin Institute. The designers investigated the different structures of letters and the associated typographic conventions.

Inside and outside

In Inside and Outside, book designers and typeface designers exhibited their projects from start to finish – from the sketches to the digital end product. On display were not just designs but also finished projects, digitally printed books and new letters and fonts.

Magisterial

The exhibition 'Magisterial. Masters of the Plantin Society (1951 - 1974)' marked the 55th anniversary of the Plantin Society. From the time of its foundation in 1951, the Society has sought to improve the aesthetics of typography and expertise in printing. This exhibition showed the work of teachers from the period 1951 to 1974.