Balthasar I Moretus
Encyclopedia
Balthasar Moretus usually called Balthasar I Moretus to distinguish him from later members of the family with the same name, was the head of the Officina Plantiniana
, the printing company established by his grandfather Christophe Plantin
in Antwerp in 1555.
Balthasar Moretus was paralysed on his left side. He studied for a few months under Justus Lipsius
, but then fell sick and returned home to work in the office. At first he was a proofreader, but soon he took over more responsibilities. After the death of his father Jan Moretus
in 1610, Balthasar took over the company together with his brother Jan II. After the death of Jan II in 1619, Balthazar started a partnership with Jan van Meurs, who was married to a sister of Maria De Sweert, the wife of Jan II Moretus. This lasted until 1629. By that time, Balthasar II Moretus, son of Jan II, was helping his uncle, and would eventually take over the company after his death in 1641. Balthasar I never married.
When he was the head of the Officina, he continued ordering illustrations from the workshop of engraver Theodore Galle, but also contacted Peter Paul Rubens to design title pages and provide other illustrations. He knew Rubens from his school period and they were lifelong friends. Apart from many book illustrations and designs, Baltahsar also ordered 19 portraits from Rubens. Many of those are still preserved in the Plantin-Moretus Museum, and include portraits of Christoffel Plantin, Jan I Moretus and Justus Lipsius.
Balthasar I Moretus was also responsible for the expansion and completion of the buildings of the company, which now are the Plantin-Moretus Museum
. They were built in the Renaissance style, and together with Rubens' house in Baroque style were considered as highlights early seventeenth century civil building in Antwerp. The Museum, both the building and the interior, is now a Unesco World Heritage Site
.
Plantin Press
The Plantin Press at Antwerp was one of the focal centers of the fine printed book in the 16th century.Christophe Plantin of Touraine, trained as a bookbinder, fled from Paris, where at least one printer had recently been burned at the stake for heresy, for Antwerp, where he bound books, became a...
, the printing company established by his grandfather Christophe Plantin
Christophe Plantin
Christophe Plantin was an influential Renaissance humanist and book printer and publisher.-Life:...
in Antwerp in 1555.
Balthasar Moretus was paralysed on his left side. He studied for a few months under Justus Lipsius
Justus Lipsius
Justus Lipsius was a Southern-Netherlandish philologist and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatible with Christianity. The most famous of these is De Constantia...
, but then fell sick and returned home to work in the office. At first he was a proofreader, but soon he took over more responsibilities. After the death of his father Jan Moretus
Jan Moretus
Jan Moretus, also Johann Moerentorf or Joannes Moretus, was a Flemish printer. Moretus married the second daughter of the famous Antwerp publisher Christoffel Plantijn in 1570. He had been working for Plantijn since 1557, and after his death, Jan Moretus would became the owner of his printing...
in 1610, Balthasar took over the company together with his brother Jan II. After the death of Jan II in 1619, Balthazar started a partnership with Jan van Meurs, who was married to a sister of Maria De Sweert, the wife of Jan II Moretus. This lasted until 1629. By that time, Balthasar II Moretus, son of Jan II, was helping his uncle, and would eventually take over the company after his death in 1641. Balthasar I never married.
When he was the head of the Officina, he continued ordering illustrations from the workshop of engraver Theodore Galle, but also contacted Peter Paul Rubens to design title pages and provide other illustrations. He knew Rubens from his school period and they were lifelong friends. Apart from many book illustrations and designs, Baltahsar also ordered 19 portraits from Rubens. Many of those are still preserved in the Plantin-Moretus Museum, and include portraits of Christoffel Plantin, Jan I Moretus and Justus Lipsius.
Balthasar I Moretus was also responsible for the expansion and completion of the buildings of the company, which now are the Plantin-Moretus Museum
Plantin-Moretus Museum
The Plantin-Moretus Museum is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium honouring the famous printers Christoffel Plantijn and Jan Moretus. It is located in their former residence and printing establishment, Plantin Press, at the Friday Market.- History :...
. They were built in the Renaissance style, and together with Rubens' house in Baroque style were considered as highlights early seventeenth century civil building in Antwerp. The Museum, both the building and the interior, is now a Unesco World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.
Works published by Balthasar I Moretus (Officina Plantiniana, 1610-1641)
This is a very partial list of the works published during the years that Balthasar I Moretus was leading the Plantin company. Some of them are reprints of works published earlier by the Plantin company of by other companies, but most are first impressions. Until 1616, the books were officially printed by the widow and sons of Jan Moretus: between 1616 and 1618, by Jan and Balthasar Moretus; from 1618 until 1629, both the widow of Jan II and Jan van Meurs may be mentioned as co-printers: between 1629 and 1641, only Balthasar was mentioned.- 1613: Balthasar Moretus, Iusti Lipsi sapientiæ et litterarum antistitis fama postuma
- 1613: Pedro de RibadeneiraPedro de RibadeneiraPedro de Ribadeneira was a Spanish hagiologist.He was born at Toledo, Spain. His father, Alvaro Ortiz de Cisneros, was the son of Pedro Gonzales Cedillo and grandson of Hernando Ortiz de Cisneros, whom Ferdinand IV had honoured with the governorship of Toledo and important missions.As a lad, Pedro...
, Catalogus scriptorum religionis Societatis Iesu - 1613: Thomas StapletonThomas StapletonThomas Stapleton was an English Catholic controversialist.-Life:He was the son of William Stapleton, one of the Stapletons of Carlton, Yorkshire. He was educated at the Free School, Canterbury, at Winchester College, and at New College, Oxford, where he became a Fellow, 18 January 1553...
, Promptuarium morale super Evangelia dominicalia - 1613: Missale Romanum, with illustrations by Rubens, reprinted 1618
- 1614: Seneca the YoungerSeneca the YoungerLucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero...
, Opera, quae exstant omnia, with illustrations by Rubens - 1614: Justus LipsiusJustus LipsiusJustus Lipsius was a Southern-Netherlandish philologist and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatible with Christianity. The most famous of these is De Constantia...
, De militia romana - 1614: Leonardus LessiusLeonardus LessiusLeonardus Lessius was a Jesuit moral theologian and a pioneer in business ethics.-Life:...
, Quae fides et religio sit capessenda - 1614: Breviarium Romanum, with illustrations by Rubens
- 1615: Robert BellarmineRobert BellarmineRobert Bellarmine was an Italian Jesuit and a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was one of the most important figures in the Counter-Reformation...
, De ascensione mentis in Deum - 1617: Leonardus Lessius, De iustitia et iure, with illustrations by Rubens
- 1620: Henricus Culens, Spiritualium Strenarum ac variarum Concionum manipulus
- 1620: Robert Bellarmine, De arte bene moriendi
- 1621: Justus Lipsius, De Vesta et vestalibus syntagma
- 1622: Aubert MiraeusAubert MiraeusAubert Miraeus , also called Aubert le Mire, was an ecclesiastical historian.-Life:He was born in Brussels. After studying at Douai and Leuven he was made canon of Antwerp cathedral in 1608 and secretary to his uncle, Joannes Miraeus, who was then Bishop of Antwerp...
, De vita Alberti pii, sapientis, prudentis Belgarum principis commentarius - 1622: Augustinus Mascardus, Silvarum, with illustrations by Rubens
- 1622: Henricus Culens, Thesaurus locorum communium, de nova et vetera proferuntur
- 1624: Biblia Sacra Vulgatae editionis
- 1626: Balthasar CordierBalthasar CordierBalthasar Cordier was a Belgian Jesuit exegete and editor of patristic works. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1612, and after teaching Greek, moral theology, and Sacred Scripture, devoted himself to translating and editing manuscripts of Greek catenae and other works of the Greek Fathers, for...
, Catena Sexaginta quinque Graecorum Patrum in S. Lucam, with illustrations by Rubens - 1626: Joannes Malder, Tractatus de sigillo confessionis sacramentalis
- 1627: Pontificale Romanum iussu Clementis VIII Pont. Max.
- 1627: Libert FroidmontLibert FroidmontLibert Froidmont , Haccourt-Liège 1587 - Louvain 1638, was a Belgian theologian and scientist. He has been a close companion to Cornelius Jansen and corresponded with Rene Descartes...
, Meteorologicorum - 1628: Justus Lipsius, De constantia
- 1630: Balthasar Cordier, Catena patrum graecorum in Sanctum Joannem
- 1631: Libert Froidmont, Labyrinthus
- 1631: Erycius PuteanusErycius PuteanusErycius Puteanus was a humanist and philologist from the Low Countries.-Life:He was born in Venlo and studied at the schools of Dordrecht and Cologne , where he took the degree of Master of Arts, 28 February 1595...
, Diva virgo Bellifontana in Sequanis: loci ac pietatis descriptio - 1631: Edmund CampionEdmund CampionSaint Edmund Campion, S.J. was an English Roman Catholic martyr and Jesuit priest. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Protestant England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason by a kangaroo court, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn...
, Decem rationes propositae in causa fidei, et opuscula eius selecta - 1633: Jodocus à Castro, Conciones super Evangelia dominicalia. Pars Hiemalis
- 1633: Balthasar Cordier, Opera S. Dionysii Areopagitae, with illustrations by Rubens
- 1634: Pedro de Bivero, Sacrum oratorium piarum imaginum immaculatae Mariae
- 1634: Silvester Petra SanctaSilvester Petra SanctaSilvester Petra Sancta was an Italian Jesuit priest, and heraldist. His name is also spelt as Sylvester Petra Sancta, Petrasancta, in Italian Padre Silvestro da Pietrasanta. Pseudonym: Coelius Servilius...
, De symbolis heroicis - 1635: Benedictus van HaeftenBenedictus van HaeftenBenedictus van Haeften Provost of Affligem Abbey and famous writer of religious works.Haeften commissioned Rubens and De Crayer to decorate the church and the monastery in Affligem.-Biography:...
, Regia via Crucis - 1635: Maximilianus ab Eynatten, Manuale exorcismorum
- 1637: Justus Lipsius, Opera omnia, postremum ab ipso aucta et recensita
- 1637: Vincentius Guinisius, Lvcensis e Soc. Iesv Poesis
- 1638: Carolus Neapolis, Anaptyxis ad fastos P. Ovidii Nasonis
- 1640: Imago primi saeculi Societatis Iesu, celebrating 100 years of the Jesuit congregation
- 1644: Rembert DodoensRembert DodoensRembert Dodoens was a Flemish physician and botanist, also known under his Latinized name Rembertus Dodonaeus.-Biography:...
, Cruydt-boeck
Sources
- Metropolitan Museum: Information on Rubens' involvement with Moretus
- Max RoosesMax RoosesMax Rooses was a Belgian writer, literature critic, and curator of the Plantin-Moretus Museum at Antwerp.Rooses was born in Antwerp, and went to school there up to 1858, after which he attended the University of Liège to study philosophy and literature...
, Petrus-Paulus Rubens en Balthasar Moretus. Een bijdrage tot de geschiedenis der Kunst - Leon Voet, The Golden Compasses: the history of the House of Plantin-Moretus chapter 4http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/voet004gold01_01/voet004gold01_01_0006.php