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The Wenceslas Bible

The Wenceslas Bible is a two-volume manuscript of the text of the Bible, produced in 1402 and 1403. This luxury manuscript with its stunning ornamentation was commissioned by Conrad of Vechta, mint master of King Wenceslas IV of Bohemia. The two volumes were acquired in or after 1805. They are the finest examples of illuminated manuscripts in the collection formed by Plantin and the Moretus family.

The 36-line Gutenberg Bible

The 36-line Bible is a monument in the history of printing. The Augustinian monastery of Nuremberg donated this copy in 1514 to its new sister institution in Antwerp. When that monastery was closed in 1522 because of Lutheran sympathies, the Bible was put on the market. Nobody knows how it then ended up in Plantin’s library.

Octo missae

The Octo missae contains eight Mass settings by the Antwerp composer Georges de la Hèle. This monumental work was the first musical work to be printed by the Officina Plantiniana, in 1578.

Gerard Mercator, map of Flanders

The geographer Gerard Mercator revolutionised cartography. This map is a surprisingly accurate representation of the county of Flanders in 1540.

Who was Christophe Plantin?

Christophe Plantin was an intellectual with a nose for business. Shortly before 1550 he moved from France to Antwerp. Five years later, he started his own printing works. He developed his printing office into the world’s largest such business.

Jan I Moretus

Jan Moerentorf worked his way up from bookshop assistant to Plantin’s right-hand man. A polyglot and autodidact, he latinised his name as ‘Moretus’. After Plantin’s death in 1589, he ran the Officina Plantiniana until 1610. The printing business kept its position as the leading book supplier of the Counter Reformation.

Balthasar I Moretus

Balthasar I Moretus cultivated close ties with Spain. As a result, the Officina Plantiniana’s export business to Spain and its overseas territories flourished once again. His luxury editions commanded respect throughout Europe.

Balthasar II and the later Moretuses

The successors of Balthasar I Moretus carried on publishing liturgical books. When the Spanish crown withdrew their printing privileges in 1764, it came as a shock. French annexation was the final blow. The printing business remained open, but refused to modernise. Eventually, Edward Moretus sold the works to the City of Antwerp in 1876.

Highlights

In the Museum Plantin-Moretus, the oldest printing presses in the world are not the only things to discover. The original lead type of fonts such as Garamond, the Gutenberg Bible and ancient manuscripts tell the story of how writing evolved into the art of printing. Portraits by Peter Paul Rubens hang on the walls and the house is beautifully furnished. Check out the indispensable highlights here.

Traces in the city

The Plantin-Moretus family has left many traces behind in the city of Antwerp and outlying districts. Several streets have been named after members of the Moretus dynasty.

Inhoudstype

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