Plantin Press

The Plantin Press at Antwerp was one of the focal centers of the fine printed book in the 16th century.

Plantin took on an assistant, Jan Moretus (Moerentorf), who read Latin and Greek and could write correspondence in several modern languages.

For over two hundred years the Plantin press had a monopoly, granted by the papacy, for the printing of liturgical formularies, including in Spain.

[1] Like the printer Robert Estienne, Plantin exposed galley proofs of his works in front of his establishment and promised a reward to anyone who could find faults.

Later Plantins were friends of the painter Peter Paul Rubens who did drawings for illustrations and also some portraits of the Plantin-Moretus family.

Printing room of the Plantin-Moretus museum
Their building is still extant and houses a museum
Museum Library