Peeters Publishers is an international academic publisher founded in

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

in 1857, joining a tradition of book printing in Leuven dating back to the

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian dates from 1 January 1401 ( MCDI) to 31 December 1500 ( MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the early modern period. M ...

. Peeters publishes 200 new titles and 75 journals a year.

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

and

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

are the main fields of the publishing house, with series focusing on

Biblical studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 Fo ...

, Religious studies,

Patristics Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...

, Classical and

Oriental studies Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studi ...

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

Medieval studies Medieval studies is the academic interdisciplinary study of the Middle Ages. Institutional development The term 'medieval studies' began to be adopted by academics in the opening decades of the twentieth century, initially in the titles of books ...

, and

the Arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

History

Leuven’s association with printing is as old as the art of printing itself. In 1474

Johann Veldener Johann Veldener (born in 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 and printer in Cologne, together with William Caxton, who may hav ...

, from Würzburg, Germany, prints the first book in Leuven. In the 15th century, eight printers were active in Leuven. The best known were Johann von Westphalen and

Dirk Martens Dirk Martens ( la, Theodoricus Martinus) (1446 or 1447 – 28 May 1534) was a printer and editor in the County of Flanders. He published over fifty books by Erasmus and the very first edition of Thomas More's ''Utopia''. He was the first to print ...

. In the 16th century it was mainly the Antwerp printers who published the important works of the humanists. The best-known Antwerp printer is undoubtedly

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

, who, due to the number of publications and its high quality, outstripped the other printers. Under the Austrian regime, the printing house of the Academy of Leuven was founded in 1759. It would continue to exist until the French Revolution. Under

Charles de Harlez Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

, Iranologist and Sinologist at the University of Leuven, the Imprimerie Orientaliste was founded in 1882 to publish its journal "Le Muséon". Upon his death, the publication of the journal was continued by the well-known orientalists Ph. Collinet and

Louis de la Vallée Poussin Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

. In 1857 the Peeters family began its printing house and bookshop in the center of Leuven. The company grew rapidly and had more than 100 employees at the turn of the twentieth century. The Fire of Leuven in 1914 destroyed the company. After the First World War, the family focused mainly on its bookshop. In 1960, Emmanuel Peeters took over the Imprimerie Orientaliste and brought the book printing business back to the Peeters family in Leuven. To this day, the Peeters publishing house is still family-owned and has strongly internationalised its activities.

References

External links

* Academic publishing companies 1857 establishments in Belgium Publishing companies established in 1857 {{publish-company-stub