Steven Mierdman (c.1510–1559) was among the most important Dutch printers of

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

books. Mierdman, also known as Stephen Mierdman, Steven Mierdmans, Stephen Myerdmann, and Steven Mierman, was born in Hooge Mierde. He first printed in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

from 1542 to about 1546, becoming a freeman of the city in November 1543. Some time after 1546, to escape proceedings for having printed

heretical Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

books, he went to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In July 1550, Mierdman, who had already taken out letters of denization, was granted a royal licence for five years "to print various books hitherto unprinted" and to "employ printers, English and foreign." While printing in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

from 1549 to 1553, he printed a number of books in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, French,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, the majority being

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

tracts, many of them by members of the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

. On the accession of Queen Mary, Mierdman had to uproot himself once again. He settled in

Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of E ...

, printing there from 1554 to 1558. In Emden he met Willem Gailliart, who would take over his printing shop after Mierdman's death, at Emden in 1559. The number of books which bear Mierdman's imprint on the title page or colophon are but a small part of his extremely large output; he worked for a number of stationers and printed many books bearing fictitious imprints, such as "Niclaes van Oldenborch."

References

*Nijhoff, W. and Kronenberg, M. E., ''Nederlandsche Bibliographie van 1500 tot 1540'', 3 vols in 8 parts (The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1923–71) *Pollard, A. W. and Redgrave, G. R., ''A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland and Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad, 1475–1640'', 3 vols (London: Bibliographical Society, 1976–1991) *Rouzet, Anne, ''Dictionnaire des imprimeurs, libraires et éditeurs des XVe et XVIe siècles dans les limites géographiques de la Belgique actuelle'' (Nieuwkoop: B. de Graaf, 1965) *Clair, Colin, 'On the Printing of Certain Reformation Books', ''The Library'' (Oxford Bibliographical Society), Fifth Series, 18 (1963), pp. 275–287. *Heijting, W. ‘Early Reformation Literature from the Printing Shop of Mattheus Crom and Steven Mierdmans’, ''Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis'', 74 (1994), pp 143–161 *Valkema Blouw, Paul, 'The Van Oldenborch and Vanden Merberghe pseudonyms, or, Why Frans Fraet had to die’, ''

Quaerendo ''Quaerendo'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to manuscripts and printed books in Europe, with a focus on the Low Countries. It was established in 1971 and covers codicology, palaeography, and various aspects of the history of ...

'', 22/3, 22/4 (1992), pp. 165–190, 245–72. *Wijnman, H. F., 'The mysterious sixteenth-century printer Niclaes van Oldenborch: Antwerp or Emden?', in ''Studia Bibliographica in Honorem Herman de la Fontaine Verwey'' (Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1968), pp. 448–478 *Hofman, Bert, 'Liedekens vol gheestich confoort: een bijdrage tot de kennis van de zestiende-eeuwse Shriftuurlijke lyriek' (Doctoral thesis, Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, 1993) 1510s births 1559 deaths Dutch printers People from Reusel-De Mierden {{Netherlands-business-bio-stub