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.

II. THE LOUVAIN INDEX OF 1550.

III. THE SAME LOUVAIN INDEX OF 1550.

IV. THE CORDOVA INDEX OF 1554.

V. THE VALLADOLID INDEX OF 1559.

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.

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.