Guiliam or Willem Lesteens (1590–1661), Latinized Gulielmus Lesteenius, was a printer and publisher in the city of Antwerp, in the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...

Life

Lesteens was born in Antwerp on 19 April 1590, the son of Gaspard Lesteens and Catherine Jauwens. In 1612 he married Maria Verdussen, the eldest daughter of his godfather,

Hieronymus Verdussen Verdussen was a dynasty of printers in Antwerp, starting with Hieronymus Verdussen I in the late sixteenth century, and ending around 1800. Many other printers in Antwerp were also related to the Verdussens through marriage. They specialized in reli ...

, and set up in business as an independent printer. His shop in the Hoogstraat bore the sign of the ''Gulden Pelicaen'' (Golden pelican). His

printer's mark A printer's mark, device, emblem or insignia is a symbol that was used as a trademark by early printers starting in the 15th century. The first printer's mark is found in the 1457 Mainz Psalter by Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer. One of the mos ...

was a pelican with spread wings feeding its young; in later versions flanked by horns of plenty. He shared the privilege of printing decrees on coinage with his brother-in-law, Hieronymus Verdussen the Younger, from 26 June 1625 until Verdussen's death in 1653. In 1641 he served a term as dean of

De Olijftak De Olijftak (The Olive Branch), or in full (Confraternity of the Holy Spirit called the Olive Branch) was a chamber of rhetoric that dates back to the early 16th century in Antwerp, when it was a social drama society drawing its membership primari ...

, a chamber of rhetoric, and in 1642–1644 two terms as dean of the

Guild of St Luke The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was identi ...

. In the 1640s he was also the leading figure in an association of Antwerp printers (''sociorum typographum Antverpiensium'') that clubbed together to share the costs (and risks) of producing expensive editions.Stijn Van Rossem, ''Het gevecht met de boeken. De uitgeversstrategieën van de familie Verdussen (1589-1689)'' (doctoral dissertation, Antwerp, 2014), p. 45. In 1650 Lesteens' daughter, Claire, married Engelbert Gymnicus. After Lesteens' death in 1661, Gymnicus took over the running of the family business in 1662.

Publications

;1617 *

Robert Bellarmine Robert Bellarmine, SJ ( it, Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino; 4 October 1542 – 17 September 1621) was an Italian Jesuit and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was canonized a saint in 1930 and named Doctor of the Church, one of only ...

, ''Opclimminghe des gheests tot Godt door de leeder der creatueren'', translated by Nicolaus Burenus
available on Google Books
;1618 *

Fulvio Androzzi Fulvio Androzzi or Androzio (1523–1575) was an Italian Jesuit and author of devotional literature. Life Androzzi was born in 1523 in Montecchio (since renamed Treia), in the province of Macerata. He bore the title doctor of both laws, probabl ...

, ''Onderwys oft practycke om dikwils het H. Sacrament des Autaers profytelyck te nutten'', translated by Nicolaus Burenus *

Martinus Becanus Martinus Becanus (6 January 1563 – 24 January 1624) was a Dutch-born Jesuit priest, known as a theologian and controversialist. Life He was born ''Maarten Schellekens'' in Hilvarenbeek in North Brabant; Schellekens is a patronymic and he adop ...

, ''Verschillen oft verscheijden titels der Calvinisten'', translated by Nicolaus Burenus
available on Google Books
;1619 *

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

, ''Metamorphosis dat is: die Herscheppinghe oft Veranderinghe'', translated by Joannes Florianus – an illustrated Dutch ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the wo ...

''
available on Google Books
*

Francisco Arias Francisco Arias (1533 – 15 May 1605) was a Spanish Catholic author, known as a writer of ascetical treatises. Arias was born in Seville and joined the Society of Jesus at the age of twenty-six. He studied at the University of Alcalá, and was la ...

, ''Van de tegenwoordigheid Gods'', translated by Nicolaus Burenus ;1620 *

Luca Pinelli Luca Pinelli (1542 Melfi; 1607 Naples) was an Italian jesuit and theologian. Life Born at Melfi, Basilicata, to a family from the Republic of Genoa, in 1562 he entered the Society of Jesus, where he taught theology and philosophy. Subsequent ...

, ''De cracht ende Misterie der H. Misse'', translated by Nicolaus Burenus * Robert Bellarmine, ''De conste om wel te sterven'', translated by Jacobus Stratius
available on Google Books
;1622 *

Benet Canfield Benet Canfield, also known as Father Benet, Benoit of Canfield, or Benoît de Canfeld, (1562–1610), was an English Recusant and mysticism, mystic. His ''Rule of Perfection'' served as a manual two or three generations of mystics. For his influen ...

, ''Den reghel der volmaeckheyt''
available on Google Books
2nd edition 162
available on Google Books
3rd edition 163
available on Google Books
* Jan Van Coudenberghe, ''Onse L. Vrovwe der seven vveeen. Met de mirakelen, getyden, ende misse der selver: insgelycks den oorspronck, ende voortganck der broederschap'', translated by Jacobus Stratius
available on Google Books
*

Richard Verstegan Richard Rowlands, born Richard Verstegan (c. 1550 – 1640), was an Anglo-Dutch antiquary, publisher, humorist and translator. Verstegan was born in East London the son of a cooper; his grandfather, Theodore Roland Verstegen, was a refugee fro ...

, ''Scherp-sinnighe characteren. Oft subtijle beschrijvinghe''
available on Google Books
;1626 *

Heyman Jacobs Heyman is the surname of: * Alan Heyman (1931–2014), South Korean musicologist and composer * Art Heyman (1941–2012), American basketball player * David Heyman, British film producer * Edward Heyman (1907–1981), American musician and lyricis ...

, ''Den cleynen herbarius, ofte Cruydt-boecxken''
available on Google Books
;1628 *

Joannes Busaeus Joannes Busaeus or Johannes Busius (1547–1611), also known as Jan Buys (Dutch) and Jean Busée (French), was a Catholic theologian from the Habsburg Netherlands who wrote in defence of the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in Germany, and pro ...

, ''Den schadt der meditatien op allen de Evangelien vande Sondaghen ende Heylighe-daghen vanden gheheelen Jaere'', translated by

Cornelius Thielmans Cornelius Thielmans (c. 1570–1634) was a Franciscan hagiographer from the Habsburg Netherlands. Life Thielmans was born in Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all ...

available on Google Books
;1631 *

Pierre Marchant Pierre Marchant or Petrus Marchantius O.F.M.Rec. (1585–1661) was a spiritual writer and religious reformer in 17th-century Flanders. Life Marchant was born at Couvin in what is now Belgium in 1585 and entered the recollect community in that tow ...

, ''Expositio litteralis in Regulam S. Francisci'' – an exposition of the

Rule of St Francis Rule or ruling may refer to: Education * Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), a university in Cambodia Human activity * The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power * Business rule, a rule perta ...

;1635 * ''Gratulatio in inaugurationem ... Gasparis Nemii, episcopi Antverpiensis'' – a celebration of the consecration of

Gaspard Nemius Gaspard du Bois, Latinized Nemius (1587–1667) was the sixth bishop of Antwerp and the ninth archbishop of Cambrai. Life Nemius was born in 's-Hertogenbosch on 23 April 1587. He studied at the University of Douai, graduating Doctor of Sacred Theo ...

as bishop of Antwerp
available on Google Books
;1636 *

Aubert Miraeus Aubert le Mire, Latinized Aubertus Miraeus (30 November 1573 – 19 October 1640) was an ecclesiastical historian in the Spanish Netherlands. Life Miraeus was born in Brussels. His father was Guillaume le Mire and his mother Joanna Speeckae ...

, ''Rerum Belgicarum Chronicon ab Julii Caesaris in Galliam adventu usqve ad vulgarem Christi Annum M.DC.XXXVI''
available on Google Books
;1639 *

Luis de la Puente Luis de la Puente (also D'Aponte, de Ponte, Dupont)
Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 4 November 2021 (11 ...

, ''Het leven van P. Balthazar Alvarez religieus der Societeyt Iesu'', translated by Ludovicus Jacobus
available on Google Books
;1644 *

François-Hyacinthe Choquet François-Hyacinthe Choquet (ca. 1580–1645) was a Dominican hagiographer and spiritual author in the Spanish Netherlands. Life Choquet was born in Lille, in Walloon Flanders, around 1580. As a young man he was professed as a member of the Domin ...

, ''De heylighen ende salighe in Nederlandt van het Oorden der Predick-heeren'', translated by Léonard Janssen-Boy – a hagiography of Dominican saints from the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

available on Google Books
;1651 * Joannes van Heumen, ''Den sterfelycken Adam, leerende de maniere van saligh te sterven''
available on Google Books
* Simon De Coninck, ''Ontdeckten leughen-geest van alle af-ghedwaelde leeraers''
available on Google Books
;1654 * with Engelbert Gymnicus: Alan of Lille, ''Alani magni de Insulis, Doctoris Universalis, Opera Moralia, Paraenetica et Polemica'', edited by Charles de Visch
available on Internet Archive
;1656 * with Engelbert Gymnicus: Massaeus Potvliet, ''Soete bemerckinghen op het Synode der Ghereformeerde ghehouden binnen Dordrecht inde Iaren 1618 ende 1619''
available on Google Books

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesteens, Willem 1590 births 1661 deaths Printers from the Holy Roman Empire Musicians from Antwerp Book publishers (people) of the Spanish Netherlands