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The oldest printing press in the world
Antwerp has been an important port and center of commerce for centuries. Because of this it has a long history of printing and the elegant mansion/workshop of one of its early printing companies has been turned into a museumThe Museum Plantin-Moretus houses a huge collection, including the oldest printing press in the world. Actually there are two of them, both from about 1600 and complete with all their parts and movable type. The first printing press with movable type in Europe was built by Gutenberg around 1440 and it revolutionized culture by allowing books to be printed en masse instead of handwritten one by one. The Chinese had printing presses more than a thousand years before this, but they used the more cumbersome block printing method.
The invention of movable type had a huge effect on just about everything. Printing presses could soon be found in every major city. They were made of wood, however, and subject to decay, so the two examples from c. 1600 are rare treasures.
The museum has a lot more too. There's a collection of 25,000 early books and engravings, as well as sumptuous rooms from the original owners, Christoffel Plantin (1520 - 1589) and Jan I Moretus (1543 - 1610). Some of the walls are decorated in gilded leather, using a layer of gold so thin that you can see the texture of the leather underneath. There's also a beautiful Renaissance courtyard built in the 1620s. The workshops date to about the same time. If you're interested in books or the history of technology, this museum is well worth a visit.
Don't miss the rest of my series: Lowdown on the Low Countries.
Coming up next: Luxury accommodation in the heart of Antwerp!
This trip was partially funded by Tourism Antwerp and Cool Capitals. All opinions, however, are my own.
Don't miss the rest of my series: Lowdown on the Low Countries.
Coming up next: Luxury accommodation in the heart of Antwerp!
This trip was partially funded by Tourism Antwerp and Cool Capitals. All opinions, however, are my own.
Gallery: The Print Museum, Antwerp
Filed under: Arts and Culture, History, Learning, Europe, Belgium
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CITY Nov 9th 2011 11:34AM
I don't travel much, but if I were going anywhere - this museum would definately be tops on my list .. thanks for review.
belldn3 Nov 9th 2011 5:54PM
Wouldn't the oldest printing press be a stone tablet??? Technically speaking....
dickn2000b Nov 10th 2011 1:47AM
If the Chinese had printing presses over a thousand years before then they are the oldest, regardless of whether or not the type was block or moveable.