Dirk Martens ( la, Theodoricus Martinus) (1446 or 1447 – 28 May 1534) was a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jame ...

and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

in the

County of Flanders The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries. From 862 onwards, the counts of Flanders were among the original twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries, their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Ypr ...

. He published over fifty books by

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

and the very first edition of

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

's ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

''. He was the first to print Greek and Hebrew characters in the Netherlands. In 1856 a statue of Martens was erected on the main square of the town of his birth, Aalst.

Biography

Dirk Martens was born in Aalst to Joos Martens and Johanna de Proost. He had two sisters, Johanna and Margaretha. His family had long lived in Aalst. He was also related to the family of Pieter Coecke van Aalst, artist and member of one of the most prominent families of Aalst. While the date of birth of Martens is not known, it is presumed to be in 1446 or 1447. Most information on Martens was lost in 1582, when the Aalst monastery of the

Hermits of Saint William The Hermits of Saint William (Williamites) was a religious community founded by Albert, companion and biographer of William of Maleval, and Renaldus, a physician who had settled at Maleval shortly before the saint's death. It followed the practice ...

, which had received the library of Martens after his death, burned down. It was here that he presumably received his education, and here as well that he spent his last years. At an unknown date, probably around 1471, he went to Venice, where he worked with the humanist

Gerardus de Lisa Gerardus is a Latinized version of the Germanic name Gerard. It has been in use as a birth name in the Low Countries. In daily life, most people use a shorter version, such as Geert, Ger, Gerard, Gerd, Gerhard, Gerrie, Gerrit, Gert, and Geurt. ...

, from Ghent. Here Martens learned the art of printing. In 1473 he returned to Aalst and together with Johan van Westfalen started a

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in wh ...

. The partnership ended in May 1474, when Martens became the only printer working in Aalst. He printed a book on the two lovers of

Enea Piccolomini Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...

who later became

Pope Pius II Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...

. Shortly thereafter there is a gap in the biography of Martens, lasting until 1486. It has been postulated that he went to Spain and may be the same as a certain Teodorico Aleman, a printer in Sevilla in 1477 and in Murcia in 1478. By 1486 or 1487 Martens was again active as a printer of religious works in Aalst, where he remained active until 1492. His 1491 edition of the ''Doctrinale'' by

Alexander de Villa Dei Alexander of Villedieu was a French author, teacher and poet, who wrote text books on Latin grammar and arithmetic, everything in verse. He was born around 1175 in Villedieu-les-Poêles in Normandy, studied in Paris, and later taught at Dol in ...

was the first printed book in the Netherlands to include Greek characters. In 1493 he moved to Antwerp and took over the printing press of

Gerard Leeu Gerard or Gheraert Leeu, ''Leew, Lyon'', or ''Leonis'', (between 1445 and 1450, Gouda - 1492, Antwerp) was a Dutch printer of incunabula. Leeu printed his first (liturgical) book in May 1477 in his shop in Gouda, where between 1477 and 1484 he ...

. He remained here until May 1497. In this period, he seems to have had connections with the imperial court at Brussels. He then moved to Leuven, setting up press across the street from the University Hall in June 1497. He returned to Antwerp from 1502 until 1512 before returning to Leuven for the remainder of his professional career. His son Pieter Martens took over the press in June 1524 but died a few months later: Dirk then resumed his work for another five years, until presumably 1529, when he was around 82 or 83 years old. He then moved back to Aalst where he died on 28 May 1534, c. 88 years old. All his children had died by then as well. His epitaph, composed by Erasmus in 1527, was placed above his tomb in the convent church, from where it was removed to the main church of Aalst in 1784.

Work

He published many humanistic works, including over fifty books by

and the very first edition of

's ''

'' in 1516. He was the first to print Greek (in 1491) and Hebrew (in 1518) characters in the Netherlands. The first edition of ''Utopia'' appeared in late December 1516. It was a

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

volume of some 400 pages (54 folios), including the titlepage, some blank pages, a woodcut (as requested by More) and several notes and letters by other humanists from the circle of Martens, including

Pieter Gillis Pieter Gillis (28 July 1486 – 6 or 11 November 1533), known by his anglicised name Peter Giles and sometimes the Latinised Petrus Ægidius, was a humanist, printer, and secretary to the city of Antwerp in the early sixteenth century.

and

Gerard Geldenhouwer Gerardus Geldenhouwer (1482 – 10 January 1542) was a Dutch historian and Protestant reformer. Geldenhouwer descended from a patrician family of Nijmegen, where he was born. His father, also named Gerard, was chamberservant at the court of Arn ...

. Though no other Martens' editions are known, the book was an immediate success and was reprinted in 1517 in Paris, in 1518 in Basel and in 1519 in Florence. It was first given to Martens to print as the result of the friendship with Erasmus; More had sent the manuscript to Erasmus with instructions to find him a publisher, and Erasmus logically thought of his usual publisher, Martens. Martens was a friend of some of the most famous humanists of his time. Desiderius Erasmus, who fell ill after a trip to Basel in 1518, spent four weeks in the house of Martens to recover, even though he had been diagnosed with the plague by two doctors. People working for Dirk Martens included Pierre Barbier, friend and correspondent of Erasmus,

(to whom More dedicated the ''Utopia''), between 1515 and 1518 Rutgerus Rescius,

Hadrianus Barlandus Adriaan van Baarland or Adrianus Barlandus or Hadrianus Barlandus (1486–1538) was a Dutch historian of merit. He was born in the village of Baarland, from which he took his name. He studied at Ghent and Leuven, at which latter place he was elec ...

, and between 1514 and 1516

, a humanist author who collaborated on the publication of More's ''Utopia'' and some of the works of Erasmus.

Legacy

Rutgerus Rescius started his printing press in Leuven at the time that Martens stopped working in 1529; but the true heir to the Martens printing press was Servaas van Sassen or Servatius Sassenus, a printer from

Diest Diest () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. Situated in the northeast of the Hageland region, Diest neighbours the provinces of Antwerp to its North, and Limburg to the East and is situated around 60 ...

who married Dirk Martens' daughter Barbara and continued his press until 1557. Three sons of Van Sassen continued the work afterwards. Van Sassen printed at least 25 Latin works before 1540, including a 1536 eulogy on the death of Thomas More by

Johannes Secundus Johannes Secundus (also Janus Secundus) (15 November 1511 – 25 September 1536) was a New Latin poet of Dutch nationality. Early life and education Born Jan Everaerts in The Hague, his father Nicolaes Everaerts was a well known jurist ...

. The importance of Martens' work, especially his publications in Antwerp and Leuven, his role in the humanistic movement, and his contributions to the study of Greek and Hebrew, has been compared to the role

Christoffel Plantijn Christophe Plantin ( nl, Christoffel Plantijn; – 1 July 1589) was a French Renaissance humanist and book printer and publisher who resided and worked in Antwerp. Life Plantin was born in France, probably in Saint-Avertin, near the city of ...

played in Antwerp at the end of the 16th century. A statue of Martens was erected on the main square of Aalst in 1856. While there are other contenders for the title, he is often considered to be the first printer in Flanders, and 500 years after he first published a book two commemorative exhibitions were held, one by the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels and one in his hometown Aalst.

Publications

Martens published many works over his extensive career, spanning more than 50 years. Below is a selection of works known to have been published by Martens.

Aalst

Dionysius the Carthusian Denis the Carthusian (1402–1471), also known as Denys van Leeuwen, Denis Ryckel, Dionysius van Rijkel, Denys le Chartreux (or other combinations of these terms), was a Roman Catholic theologian and mystic. Life Denis was born in 1402 in that ...

, ''Speculum conversionis peccatorum''; 1473 (presumably the first book published by Martens together with

John of Westphalia John of Westphalia, also known as John of Paderborn, Johann von Westphalen and other spelling variations of Johannes, Paderborn and Westfalia (died 1498), was the first printer in Leuven and possibly in Flanders. He was born in Paderborn or Aachen ...

) *

Pseudo-Augustine Pseudo-Augustine is the name given by scholars to the authors, collectively, of works falsely attributed to Augustine of Hippo. Augustine himself in his ''Retractiones'' lists many of his works, while his disciple Possidius tried to provide a compl ...

, ''Manuale de salutate sive de aspiratione animae ad Deum''; 1473 *

Enea Silvio Piccolomini Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...

, ''Historia de duobus amantibus''; 1474 (presumably the last book published by Martens together with John of Westphalia) *

Baptista Mantuanus Baptista Spagnuoli Mantuanus ( it, Battista Mantovano, English: Battista the Mantuan or simply Mantuan; also known as Johannes Baptista Spagnolo; 17 April 1447 – 22 March 1516) was an Italian Carmelite reformer, humanist, and poet. Biography ...

, ''De Vita Beata''; 1474 (the first known book printed by Martens on his own) *

, ''Doctrinale''; 1491

Antwerp

Cristopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

, '' Epistola de insulis nuper inventis''; 1493 *

Desiderius Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

, ''Lucubratiunculae''; 1503 (reprinted 1509; reprinted 1514 together with poems by Grapheus, see below) *Erasmus, ''Panegyricus''; 1504 *

Rudolf Agricola Rodolphus Agricola ( la, Rudolphus Agricola Phrisius; August 28, 1443, or February 17, 1444 – October 27, 1485) was a pre- Erasmian humanist of the Northern Low Countries, famous for his knowledge of Latin and Greek. He was an educator, music ...

, ''Opuscula nonnulla''; 1511 *Erasmus, ''Laus stultitiae sive Moriae encomium''; 1512 (reprint of the original 1511 edition)

Leuven

*Erasmus, ''Lucianus''; 1512 (reprint 1516) *Erasmus, ''De ratione studii'' coupled with Guilielmus Goudanus, ''Odae''; 1512 *

Plutarchus Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ' ...

, ''De tuenda bona valetudine'' (translated by Erasmus); 1513 *

Lucian Lucian of Samosata, '; la, Lucianus Samosatensis ( 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer Pamphleteer is a historical term for someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (and therefore ...

, ''De luctu'' (translated by Erasmus); 1513 *

, ''Fabulae''; 1513 (second edition) *

Cornelius Grapheus Cornelius Grapheus (1482 – 19 December 1558), Latinized from Cornelis De Schrijver, was a secretary to the city of Antwerp and writer. Life Grapheus was born in Aalst, County of Flanders, in 1482. His brother was Joannes Grapheus, the p ...

, ''Poems'', together with ''Erasmi Lucubratiunculae aliquot''; 1514 *

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

, ''Versuum ex Bucolicis Vergilii proverbialium collectanea''; 1514 *Erasmus, ''De constructione octo partium libellus''; 1514 (July, second edition November, third edition 1516) *Gaza (translated by Erasmus), ''Grammaticae Institutiones Liber''; 1516 *Erasmus, ''Institutiones principes christiani''; 1516 (two printings in August 1516) *Erasmus, ''De octo partium orationis''; 1516 *Erasmus, ''Epistolae aliquot selectae ex Erasmicis''; 1516 (reprinted 1520: an anthology of his letters made at the request of Martens by Barlandus, and aimed specifically at students) *

Publio Fausto Andrelini Publio Fausto Andrelini (c. 1462 – 25 February 1518) was an Italian humanist poet, an intimate friend of Erasmus in the 1490s, who spread the New Learning in France. He taught at the University of Paris as "professor of humanity" from 1489, ...

, ''Epistolae proverbialis et morales''; 1516 *

, ''Pompa exequiarum Catholici Hispanorum regis Ferdinandi''; 1516 *Thomas More, ''Utopia'', first edition; 1516 *Erasmus, ''Epistoles elegantes''; 1517 *Geldenhouwer, ''De ingressu Philippi de Burgundia in ditionem suam''; 1517 *Erasmus, ''Familiarium Colloquiorum Formulae''; March 1519 (amended edition; first edition authorized by Erasmus, with a new preface by him; further amended edition October 1519) *''Dictionarium Hebraicum''; 1520 * Adrien Amerot, ''Compendium graecae grammatices'', 1521 *Barlandus, ''Adagiorum epitome''; 1521 *Erasmus, ''Progymnasmata quaedam primae adolescentiae''; 1521 * Gillis van Delft, ''Conclusiones in Sententias Magistri''; no date *

Clenardus Nicolas Cleynaerts (Clenardus or Clenard) (5 December 1495 – 1542) was a Flanders, Flemish Philologist, grammarian and traveler. He was born in Diest, in the Duchy of Brabant. Life Cleynaerts was a follower of Jan Driedo. Educated at the Old U ...

, ''Tabula in grammaticen hebraeam''; 1529 (Martens' last known book)