Guillaume Fichet on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Guillaume Fichet (; 21 September 1433 – c. 1480) was a French scholar, who cooperated with
Guillaume Fichet (; 21 September 1433 – c. 1480) was a French scholar, who cooperated with Johann Heynlin
Johann Heynlin, variously spelled ''Heynlein'', ''Henelyn'', ''Henlin'', ''Hélin'', ''Hemlin'', ''Hegelin'', ''Steinlin''; and translated as ''Jean à Lapide'', ''Jean La Pierre (Lapierre, de la Pierre)'', ''Johannes Lapideus'', ''Johannes Lapida ...
to establish the first 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 ...
in France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
(Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
) in 1470.
Biography
He was born atLe Petit-Bornand-les-Glières
Le Petit-Bornand-les-Glières, commonly referred to as Petit-Bornand, is a former commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged with its neighbour village Ent ...
, in Savoy
Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps.
Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south.
Savo ...
. He studied in Paris between 1450 and 1454 and then followed up on his studies in Avignon. According to his own account as mentioned in his ''Rhetorica,'' he taught liberal arts, scriptures and rhetoric since the mid 1450s. In 1467, he was elected rector of the Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
. In 1469 he and Heynlin installed the first press ever set up in France. They brought from Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
three printers: Michael Friburger, Ulrich Gering and Martin Crantz. He was in charge of the library of the Sorbonne between 1469 and 1471. The first book printed was the ''Epistolae'' ("Letters") of Gasparinus Pergamensis (1470). Also Fichet's own works followed, such as his ''Rhetorica'' (1471). The publisher gained recognition by publishing several speeches made by leading Cardinal Basilios Bessarion
Bessarion ( el, Βησσαρίων; 2 January 1403 – 18 November 1472) was a Byzantine Greek Renaissance humanist, theologian, Catholic cardinal and one of the famed Greek scholars who contributed to the so-called great revival of letter ...
. Bessarion's 1471-2 "Orations against the Turks," as the piece came to be called, is known as one of the first pieces of mass-propaganda used in Europe. Together with Bessarion, he left Paris and went to Rome in 1472.
References
Further reading
* *Philippe, J. (1892). ''Guillaume Fichet: sa vie, ses œuvres. Introduction de l'imprimerie à Paris''. Annecy: J. Dépollier. 1433 births 1480s deaths Academic staff of the University of Paris French printers Printers of incunabula 15th-century French writers French male writers 15th-century Latin writers 15th-century French businesspeople {{France-academic-bio-stub