PLANTIN, CHRISTOPHE

PLANTIN, CHRISTOPHE. – One of the most distinguished and active printers of the 16th century, founder of a publishing and printing enterprise that lasted for more than three centuries and was transformed into a museum in 1876.

Born near Tours around 1520, he settled in Antwerp, first as a bookbinder and bookseller, and then, beginning in 1555, embarked there upon a printing activity that was soon to attain European importance and to gain a broad share of the book market. The first book printed by P. was an Italian text by G. M. Bruto, La instituzione di una fanciulla nata nobilmente, with a French translation (Antwerp 1555, in-12°, 60 leaves), followed by an ever-growing number of works by the classics, French poets, and theological and liturgical works. Between 1562 and 1563 the workshop underwent a crisis because of accusations of heresy brought against P., but it soon recovered, and the decade 1563–73 must be considered the most outstanding period of Plantin’s production. In addition to the fine Roman types, the illustrations were added at this time, and P.’s editions abound in them, constituting a copious series of the finest “illustrated” books of the period. It will suffice to mention among them the Emblemata of G. Sambucus (Janos Zsambok), published in 1564, and that of A. Alciato, published in 1565, as well as P.’s greatest work, the polyglot Bible printed from 1569 to 1573 in 8 volumes, extensively illustrated with magnificent copper engravings. But the heavy financial effort involved had unfavorable repercussions on the enterprise and induced P. thereafter to print almost exclusively liturgical works (missals, breviaries, antiphonaries), for which he obtained privileges in various states from King Philip II of Spain, who always held him in high esteem. In 1576, owing to the intensification of the wars of religion, he was forced to emigrate to Leiden with part of the workshop, leaving in Antwerp his sons-in-law Franz Raphelengius (1539–96) and Jan Moretus “Moerentorf” (1543–1610). In Leiden he served that university, printing editions of the classics, scientific works, and especially works by various members of the teaching staff, including those of the philologist Joest Lips (Justus Lipsius).

Returning to Antwerp in 1585, he devoted himself to reorganizing the damaged enterprise, but he could see only the first signs of its recovery, as he died in 1589. The glorious printing house had worthy continuators in the aforementioned sons-in-law, especially in Moretus, who became the founder of a productive dynasty of printers continuing without interruption until Edouardus-Hyacinthus Moretus (1804–80). In 1875, the latter ceded to the city of Antwerp the printing house with all its equipment (foundry, woodblocks and engraved copperplates, archive, and the complete series of P.’s editions) for the creation of the present Museum P.-Moretus, perhaps the most important museum devoted to the art of printing. Approximately 1,600 editions are attributed to P., comprising a great variety of texts. Most of them display remarkable graphic perfection and are richly illustrated with woodcuts and copper engravings, a factor that contributed significantly to their enormous dissemination and esteem throughout the learned Europe of the period.

Giannetto Avanzi