История письма и чтения. Асафова Г.К. - 131 стр.

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Early printer-publishers in Germany

Printing has been called the great German contribution to civilization; in its

early days it was known as the German art. After its invention (about 1440–50) by

a goldsmith of Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg, it was disseminated with missionary

zeal–and a keen commercial sense–largely by Germans and largely along the trade

routes of German merchants. Gutenberg himself is usually credited with what is

known as the 42-line Bible (1455; see photograph); the 36-line Bible; and a

popular encyclopaedia called the Catholicon (1460); however, he lost control of his

assets in collection proceedings brought against him by his business partner in

1455. Gutenberg's partner, Johann Fust, and his employee, Peter Schöffer (later

Fust's son-in-law), continued the business together after 1455; but Mainz itself

never became a major centre of the book trade. It was soon challenged by

Strassburg (Strasbourg) where, in 1460–61, Johann Mentelin, with an eye for the

lay market, brought out a Bible compressed into fewer pages and followed this

with the first printed Bible in German or any other vernacular. A few years later,

Cologne had its first press (1464) and became an important centre of printing in the

northwest. Cologne's early production was almost entirely in Latin because of the

heavy bias of its university toward orthodox Thomist theology. In the south,

printing quickly spread to the other great trading centres, Basel (1466), Nürnberg

(1470), and Augsburg (1472). Basel became famous for the scholarly editions of

Johann Amerbach and Johann Froben, who had the benefit of distinguished

advisers, including the Dutch humanist scholar Desiderius Erasmus. In Augsburg,

the first press was set up alongside the renowned scriptorium of the Abbey of SS.

Ulrich and Afra; and the tradition of the illuminated manuscript was carried over

into equally sumptuous editions of illustrated printed books. At Nürnberg, which

soon took the lead in the book trade, Anton Koberger operated on a large,

international scale. At his peak, he ran 24 presses and had links with Basel,

Strassburg, Lyon, Paris, and many other cities. He could be called the first great

businessman publisher and the first publisher to rise socially–to membership in the

town council. By 1500 there were presses in some 60 German towns, including