1.4.6: 1460 - 1585 - Private libraries (bibliophily)


The ownership of books in the Netherlands was, until well into the fifteenth century, mostly a matter for the higher nobility and for institutions such as monasteries. Non-noble lay persons also possessed books but seldom many. The possession of books increased during the century as is shown indirectly by a rise in manuscript production and the introduction of the printed book. Sixteenth-century humanism promoted the creation of scholarly libraries while increasing literacy and the Reformation brought the book within reach of more and more people.

Bibliophily followed, at a distance, the dissemination of the book described above. In the North, the court of Albrecht of Bavaria, Count of Holland, formed around 1400 a centre of bibliophily for which expensive manuscripts were manufactured. The centre of gravity of bibliophily lay, however, in the South at the Court of Burgundy. Duke Philip the Good (1396-1467) possessed one of the richest collections of his time. Part of the manuscripts - especially those of a religious nature - were produced in Flanders under his patronage. Philip's great-granddaughter, governess Margaret of Austria (1480-1530) showed great interest in the Renaissance and Humanism. She brought part of the scattered Burgundian library together again and added many codices as well as some of the best printed works. Religious writings predominated, but secular literature was also represented. In the library of her successor, Mary of Hungary (1505-1585), history and the sciences were better represented while her interests in music and the writings of Erasmus can also be seen.

In 1544, William of Orange, at the age of 11, inherited René of Chalon's many expensive manuscripts and printed books which were placed in the castle of Breda. When he fled in 1567 various bindings appeared to have been added which had his coat of arms.

Long after the introduction of printing, the image of bibliophily was still determined by manuscripts. Some collectors had a dislike of printed books. Raphael de Marcatellis (1437-1508), illegitimate son of Philip the Good, and himself a great lover of books, had texts copied for his collection from incunabula. Likewise, the patrician Lodewijk van Gruuthuse (1422-1492) of Bruges, owner of the hymnbook manuscript which was named after him, had a luxurious copy made of a 1485 Boëtius edition.

The number of book collectors increased rapidly during the sixteenth century. Marcus Laurinus (1480-1530), also from Bruges, not only brought together an expensive library but also paid for the Officina Goltziana, the first private press in the Netherlands. Like those of Jean Grolier his bindings bear the words 'Marci Laurini et amicorum'. The Amsterdam banker, Pompejus Occo (1480-1537), brought together a library with manuscripts by, among others, the humanist Rudolf Agricola. Extremely celebrated was the library of Canon Jan Dircsz van der Haer of Gorkum (Jan with the Books, † 1538), placed at the Hof van Holland in 1531.

The most important private libraries in the Northern Netherlands, established after about 1550, may be characterised as scholarly libraries, although bibliophily was certainly an issue. Examples are the libraries of Canon Huybert van Buchell of Utrecht (1513-1599) and of diplomat and man of letters, Marnix van Sint Aldegonde (1540-1598).

All these collection activities contributed considerably to the survival of expensive books in particular.


author: W. Heijting
 
 


Private libraries (bibliophily)



xylographic printing

Definition: 1. printing process used in the 15th century for books in which text and image are cut out of a block of wood and are printed from that block;. 2. impression made according to this process.



printing houses

Definition: establishment or firm where books are printed.



art of printing

Definition: the art of reproducing written texts by means of movable type as it was applied for the first time in the middle of the 15th century in Europe.



printing on demand

Definition: printing publications on demand by means of a high-grade laser printer instead of a printing press. Makes it possible to produce small print runs at a relatively low price.



intaglio printing

Definition: printing technique whereby the image is cut or etched in the forme (plate or cylinder), inked and transferred to the paper by pressing it forcefully against the forme.



printing capacity

Definition: production capacity of a printing house or printing press, measured in the number of printed sheets per time unit



printing ink

Definition: sticky substance, containing pigment, used in printing the forme.



printing houses

Definition: establishment or undertaking where printing takes place.



printing- publishing houses

Definition: establishment of a printer-publisher.



printing establishment

Definition: 1. printing office. 2. general term for all establishments and institutions which play a role in the production of printed matter.



printing materials

Definition: collective term for all material needed in the production of printed matter, machines as well as tools and raw material.



printing presses

Definition: 1. general term for a device or machine for the printing of books, plates, etc. 2. the whole of the activities carried out in the printing and distribution of texts.



automatic printing presses

Definition: apparatus or machine for printing books, plates, etc., automatically operating, i. e. not driven by human power.



printing process

Definition: collective term for all activities necessary in the production of printed paper.



printing techniques

Definition: collective term for the various technical procedures (letterpress, intaglio, planographic printing, screen print, foil print) used to transfer or multiply text and/or image on to paper or other material.



printing sheets

Definition: the printed sheet as it is produced on the printing press, to distinguish it from a folding sheet.



letterpress printing

Definition: printing process whereby the inked parts of the forme are raised above the non-printing ones.



printing privileges

Definition: right for the protection of printers and publishers against the illegal reproduction of printed matter before the introduction of the modern copyright.



newspaper printing offices

Definition: office or company where newspapers are printed.



printing types

Definition: metal stick with on it the raised image of a letter, figure or symbol, with which printing can be done in relief.



collotype printing shops

Definition: printing shop where printed matter is produced by means of the collotype process.



music printing

Definition: printing musical works; generally executed with one of the following techniques: letterpress, lithography or photolithography.



copperplate printing

Definition: printing process in which a copperplate press is used.



rotary printing

Definition: printing process where use is made of a rotary press.



printing the white

Definition: 1. first printing of a sheet whereby the front is printed. 2. printed front of a sheet.



planographic printing

Definition: printing process with a flat forme (stone or metal plate) on which by a process involving chemicals the image to be printed holds the printing ink, while its surrounding area rejects it.



screen printing (1) screen print(2)

Definition: 1. printing technique whereby the ink is pressed by a squeegee through a fine-meshed textile or metal screen in which a stencil has been put. 2. print made by this procedure.