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Hendrik Désiré Louis 'Dis' Vervliet ( Antwerp, 31 December 1923 – August 2020) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

librarian and historian of books and printing.

Life

Vervliet was born into a working-class family and received a doctorate in classical philology in 1955. In his career, Vervliet worked as deputy director of the Museum Plantin-Moretus, professor and librarian of the

University of Antwerp The University of Antwerp ( nl, Universiteit Antwerpen) is a major Belgian university located in the city of Antwerp. The official abbreviation is ''UA'', but ''UAntwerpen'' is more recently used. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 stud ...

and as professor of book and library history of the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. In 1968 he became a member of the

Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts The Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts ( nl, Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten, or KVAB) is one of an independent learned society of science and arts of the Flemish Community in Belgium. ...

in the humanities class. His wife was Irma Regemortels (1928-2006), also a librarian.

Work

In his writing on the history of books, Vervliet was particularly known for his work on printing in the sixteenth century in France, Belgium and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and the work of

Robert Granjon Robert Granjon (1513-November 16, 1589/March 1590) was a French type designer and printer. He worked in Paris, Lyon, Frankfurt, Antwerp, and Rome for various printers. He is best known for having introduced the typeface Civilité and for his ita ...

. In 2013, Ton Croiset van Uchelen wrote that he "is now generally recognised as ''the'' authority on the sixteenth-century typefaces of Western Europe." After retiring, Vervliet published extensively, in his eighties completing publishing two large volumes on printing in the French renaissance. In his nineties he additionally completed a book on Granjon's floral ornaments, and then a book covering Granjon's entire career published at the age of 94. Returning to the topic of civilité types, which he had published on at the start of his career, at the time of his death he had recently published a paper extending his earlier research on the types of

Philippe Danfrie Philippe Danfrie the elder (about 1532 in Cornouaille in Brittany - 1606 in Paris), was a designer and maker of mathematical instruments in metal and paper, as well as a type-cutter, engraver, minter of coins and medals, publisher and author. Much ...

and was working on another paper on Granjon's civilité types. A

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

was published for Vervliet in 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vervliet, Hendrik Désiré Louis 2020 deaths 1923 births Belgian librarians Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam Academic staff of the University of Antwerp 20th-century Belgian historians Historians of printing Members of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts 21st-century Belgian historians