Theodoricus Martinus Typographus (Erasmus House Museum, 23 October-6 December 2009)

One would think that by now scholars would have unearthed everything about the origin of printing. Not quite. For more than three centuries, Paul Needham wrote in The Invention and the Early Spread of European Printing As Represented in the Scheide Library (2007), antiquaries and scholars have been trying to identify and pin down the earliest survival of printing. An attempt Needham still defined as "not banal."

Two Belgian scholars have placed themselves in that tradition: Renaud Adam and Alexandre Vanautgaerden, with their recent study "Thierry Martens et la figure de l'imprimeur humaniste. (Une nouvelle biographie)," Brepols, 2009, ISBN 978-2-503-53112-0. Theodoricus Martinus or Dirk Martens is none other that Belgium's first printer: every child is taught at school that Martens printed the first book at Aalst (Alost).

When the Low Countries -Belgium and Holland- celebrated the 500th anniversary of printing in 1973 -with a catalogue from Belgium's Royal Library that became an instant classic- the prototypographi were, as was admitted, chosen by convention, and differently so along national borders, with Martens as first printer for Belgium. Streamlining festivities even more, both countries were letting printing begin in 1473.

As Adam & Vanautgaerden write, a partnership between Dirk Martens and the German Joannes van Westfalen comes closer to the truth of the first printed book at Alost. Already in 1474, Joannes van Westfalen would be a very succesful printer in the city of Leuven, and the first activity of Martens at Alost was short-lived. Whether both men actually did meet in Venice, as their first printing material seems to betray, and who was actually printing at Alost, are just two of many questions laden with mystery.

Still, the new census by Adam & Vanautgaerden of 269 editions attributed to Dirk Martens also reveals that there is a good reason to shed light anew on our first printer: more so than Joannes van Westfalen, Martens was successful at experimenting with and introducing new language and character sets, and therefore deserves to be celebrated as first typographer.

The exhibition "Theodoricus Martinus Typographus" looks at Martens as graphic designer. It also puts ancient and contemporary typography in juxtaposition. The exhibition is in the hands of a graphic design studio from Brussels, Sign, which has signed every card or web page of the Erasmus House Museum in the last 15 years.

Details: Theodoricus Martinus Typographus. Exhibition. Erasmus House Museum, Anderlecht (Brussels). 23 October - 6 December, 2009.

Museum Plantin-Moretus to initiate TORAD, an image bank of ornamental typography for Antwerp printers 1541-1600

The Museum Plantin-Moretus / Prentenkabinet at Antwerp has received government funding to initiate a project called TORAD, short for Typografische Ornamenten Repertorium van Antwerpse Drukkers 1541-1600. (Our source for this post is the Museum's press release in Dutch).

The TORAD project, which runs over the next three years, aims to create an image bank of the typographical ornamentation and ornamental letters that printers at Antwerp used between 1541 and 1600.

The historical context is a period rife with political and religious instability in the Spanish Netherlands, with a serious likelihood for printers to be persecuted for their output. Many publications appeared anonymously. Often they mention a publisher, but no printer, which begs the question for book historians which printer delivered the goods.

A repertory will help researchers to identify the anonymous titles. A similar project in Holland could identify the right printer for 70% of the anonymous output, and 99% of the editions for which publishers were known, could be matched to a printer. The Antwerp project is hoping to achieve a similar succes rate.

Illustration: Initial (51mmx51mm) cut by Anton Van Leest, used in Petrus Bizarus, Senatus populique genuensis rerum. Antwerpen, Christoffel Plantijn, 1579. Initial used in Museum Plantin-Moretus press release, but here taken from our own library copy (Labore et constantia 155).

A special entry at the Plantin-Moretus Prizes 2008

The Plantin Genootschap - Hoger Instituut voor Grafische Kunsten (Higher Institute of Graphic Art, Antwerp) and the VUV. or Vlaamse Uitgeversvereniging (Union of Flemish Publishers) join forces to discern prizes, the so-called Plantin-Moretusprijzen, to books in Flanders (Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) which deserve attention for of their graphic design.

Prizes are given in several categories: literature, schoolbook and scientific study, art book & exhibition catalogue, other non-fiction, the children's book, the experimental book & private press, as well as work by graphic artists from Flanders for publishers abroad.

New categories in 2008 are a vote for best debut or graduation project, as well as the public's prize for Best Book Cover.

As of May 30, 2008, public voting is open from a shortlist of ten book covers, accessible via the website of the Plantin Genootschap, which leads one to the site of the Flemish daily De Standaard to cast a vote. The prizes will be distributed on June 30, 2008 in Brussels, at Bozar, the Centre of Fine Arts. A public vote is possible every day until then.

The books with best layout will be on show all summer in Brussels at Bozar, the Centre of Fine Arts, from July 1, 2008 until August 24, 2008.

We were extremely pleased to discover that among this public shortlist, between a cookbook and humor, is a study co-edited by the formidable Belgian bibliographer Jean-François Gilmont and the curator of the Erasmushouse Museum, Alexandre Vanautgaerden.

Very aptly, this study has typography as a theme: La page de titre à la Renaissance. Treize études suivies de cinquante-quatre pages de titre commentées et d'un lexique des termes relatif à la page de titre (ISBN 978-2-503-52669-0, Brepols Publishers, 2008, 396 p., 100 b/w ill., 65 color ill, paperback, 75 €).

This study is also "Nuger 6", n° 6 in Nugae humanisticae sub signo Erasmi, or a study series devoted to nugae, varia or trifles, published at the Erasmushouse Museum. Under its young curator Alexandre Vanautgaerden, this museum, which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2007, does communication no less than in fine typography. Report on the current exhibition of this museum is soon to follow.