Johann Veldener (born in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

, died in Leuven between 1486 and 1496), also known as Jan Veldener or Johan Veldenaer; was an early printer in Flanders. He worked as a

punchcutter Punchcutting is a craft used in traditional typography to cut letter punches in steel as the first stage of making metal type. Steel punches in the shape of the letter would be used to stamp matrices into copper, which were locked into a mould sh ...

and printer in Cologne, together with

William Caxton William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer to be the first English retailer of printed books. His parentage a ...

, who may have financed his first books. They both left for Flanders in 1472. Evidence indicates that Veldener assisted Caxton in setting up his printing office in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

and helped printing his first work there, the 1472-1473 ''

Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye ''Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye'' or ''Recueil des Histoires de Troye'' (1464) is a translation by William Caxton of a French courtly romance written by Raoul Lefèvre, chaplain to Philip III, Duke of Burgundy. It was the first book printed ...

'' by Raoul Lefèvre. Afterwards, Veldener went to Leuven and set up his printing company there, becoming the second printer in Leuven after

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 ...

, and the third or fourth in the Netherlands. He entered the Leuven University on 30 July 1473 in the faculty of Medicine. He left Leuven in 1477, after the death of Charles the Bold caused unrest in the city, and went to

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

. When that city also became troubled, he left for

Culemborg Culemborg () is a municipality and a city in the centre of the Netherlands. The city had a population of 29,386 on 1 January 2022 and is situated just south of the Lek river. Direct train lines run from the railway station towards the cities of U ...

, and finally returned to Leuven in 1484. Veldener was also known for creating typefaces, both for his own work and for others, and Caxton is believed to have taken one of Veldener's typefaces with him to England and used it among others on his first edition of the ''

Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus ...

''. It is probable that he later bought a number of other typefaces from Veldener as well. While in Utrecht, Veldener also supposedly wrote a ''Chronyck van Hollandt, Zeelandt, ende Westvrieslandt'' (a ''Chronicle of Holland, Sealand, and Western Friesland''), which was reprinted in 1650 in Utrecht. Other works attributed to him are the ''Cronijcken van Enghelant'' (a chronicle of the English kings until 1460), ''Cronijcken van Utrecht'' (a history of the Bishopric of Utrecht), ''Cronijcken van Gelre'', ''Cronijcken van Cleve'' and the ''Cronijcken van Brabant''. Currently it is believed that these works were anonymous and printed by him, and that the later attributions to him as writer are erroneous.

Works printed by Veldener

In Cologne (1471-1472)

Walter Burley Walter Burley (or Burleigh; 1275 – 1344/45) was an English scholastic philosopher and logician with at least 50 works attributed to him. He studied under Thomas WiltonHarjeet Singh Gill, ''Signification in language and culture'', Indian Inst ...

, ''De vita philosophorum'' *

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 ...

, ''De duobus amantibus'' *''Gesta Romanorum'' *''Flores Sancti Augustini'' *

Bartholomeus Anglicus Bartholomaeus Anglicus (before 1203–1272), also known as Bartholomew the Englishman and Berthelet, was an early 13th-century Scholastic of Paris, a member of the Franciscan order. He was the author of the compendium ''De proprietatibus rerum' ...

, ''De proprietatibus rerum''

In Leuven (1473-1477)

1473

* Giovanni Boccaccio, ''Genealogia deorum''

1474

* Jacobus de Theramo
''Consolatio peccatorum''
From th
Rare Book and Special Collections Division
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

Pietro de' Crescenzi Pietro de' Crescenzi ( 1230/35 – c. 1320), la, 'Petrus de Crescentiis', was a Bolognese jurist,Robert G. Calkins, "Piero de' Crescenzi and the Medieval Garden", in ''Medieval Gardens'', ed. Elisabeth B. MacDougall, Dumbarton Oaks, 1986: 155 ...

, ''Liber ruralium commodorum

1475

*Angelus de Gambiglionibus de Aretio, also known as Angeli Aretini or Angelo Gambiglioni, ''Lectura super institutionibus'' *

Werner Rolevinck Werner Rolevinck (1425–1502) was a Carthusian monk and historian who wrote about 50 titles. He was born near Laer, Westphalia, the son of a wealthy farmer. In 1447 he entered Cologne Charterhouse, where he later died. His most famous work was his ...

, ''Fasciculus temporum'' (the second illustrated book to be printed in the Low Countries) * Lucan, ''

Pharsalia ''De Bello Civili'' (; ''On the Civil War''), more commonly referred to as the ''Pharsalia'', is a Roman epic poem written by the poet Lucan, detailing the civil war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate led by Pompey the Gr ...

'' * Laurentius Valla, ''Elegantiae linguae latinae''

1476

*An

almanach An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is an annual publication listing a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and othe ...

, considered to be the oldest known printed almanach in the Netherlands *

Carolus Maneken Carolus Maneken or Carolus Virulus (or any of the spelling variations of the name, including Karel and Karolus for Carolus, Menneken, Mennicken or Meniken for Maneken, and Viruli for Virulus) (1419?-1493) was a professor at the Leuven University and ...

, (first impression of this book) *Pope Pius II, and

1477

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

, * Raimundus Peraudi, *

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

In Utrecht (1478-1481)

1478

*''Epistolae et Evangelia'' or (reprinted 1479 and 1481)

1479

Pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregor ...

, ''Homiliae super Evangeliis / Omelie in duutschen''

1480

*Werner Rolevinck, , reedited with some additional chronicles (attributed sometimes to Veldener); this is the first translation of this book (first published in Latin in 1474, Latin version printed by Veldener in 1475) *

Jacobus de Voragine Jacobus de Voragine (c. 123013/16 July 1298) was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of the '' Golden Legend'', a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the medi ...

, * Lucas de Tollentis,

In Culemborg (1483-1484)

1483

*''Spieghel der menschlicker behoudenisse'' *''Boec van den Houte'' *''Spinroc''

1484

*''Kruidboeck in Dietsche'' (possibly printed in Leuven)

In Leuven again (1484-1487?)

*''Alphabetum divini amoris'' (two editions) *''Vocabularius'' (in French and Dutch and Latin)

1484

* Pope Innocent VIII, ''Regulae cancellariae apostolicae, Lectae 23 Sept. 1484'' * Michael Scotus, ''Liber physiognomiae'' *

Franciscus de Zabarellis Francesco Zabarella (10 August 1360 – 26 September 1417) was an Italian cardinal and canonist. Appointment as bishop Born in Padua, he studied jurisprudence at Bologna and at Florence, where he graduated in 1385. He taught Canon law at Florence ...

, ''Repetitio super capitulo Perpendimus de sententia excommunicationis''

1485

*''Herbarius in Latino'' (reprinted with illustrations in 1486)

1486

* Matheolus Perusinus, ''De memoria augenda'' * Paulus de Middelburgo, ''Prognosticon'' (in Dutch) * Cornelius Roelans de Mechlinia, ''Opusculum aegritudinum puerorum''

1487

*''Valuacie van den gelde''

Works printed by Veldener

In Cologne (1471-1472)

In Leuven (1473-1477)

1473

1474

1475

1476

1477

In Utrecht (1478-1481)

1478

1479

1480

In Culemborg (1483-1484)

1483

1484

In Leuven again (1484-1487?)

1484

1485

1486

1487

Notes

Further reading