Albrecht Pfister (c. 1420 – c. 1466) was one of the first European printers to use

movable type Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuation m ...

, following its invention by

Johannes Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (; – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable-type printing press. Though not the first of its kind, earlier designs ...

. Working in

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castl ...

, Germany, he is believed to have been responsible for two innovations in the use of the new technology: printing books in the German language, and adding

woodcuts Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...

to printed books. The typefaces of Pfister, although similar to Gutenberg's, have their own peculiarities. Very little is known of his life. He is known to have been a cleric in Bamberg in 1448, and to have been connected with Georg I von Schaumberg at that time. By 1460 he was acting as secretary to von Schaumberg, who in 1459 had become prince-bishop of Bamberg. Nine editions are generally ascribed to him. All are believed to date to the 1460s, and possibly all to the early 1460s. These are (not in chronological order): * two editions of the popular religious work ''

Der Ackermann aus Böhmen ''Der Ackermann aus Böhmen'' (German for "The Ploughman from Bohemia"), also known as ''Der Ackermann und der Tod'' ("The Ploughman and Death"), is a work of prose in Early New High German by Johannes von Tepl, written around 1401. Sixteen manusc ...

'' in German * two editions of

Ulrich Boner Ulrich Boner, or Bonerius, (fl. early 14th century), was a German-speaking Swiss writer of fable. He was born in Bern, descended of an old Bernese family and, as far as can be ascertained, took clerical orders and became a monk; yet as it appears ...

's ''Der Edelstein'' in German * two editions of a Biblia pauperum in German * a Biblia pauperum in Latin * a ''History of Joseph, Daniel, Judith and Esther'' in German * an edition of the ''Belial'' of

Jacobus de Teramo Jacobus Palladinus de Teramo (1349–1417), a member of the powerful family of Palladini, was an Italian canon lawyer and bishop. His birthplace, Teramo, was then part of the Kingdom of Naples (now in the Italian region of Abruzzo). Life After stu ...

in German The earlier edition of the ''Ackermann'' may have been his first work, and thus both the first illustrated book, and the first book in German, printed with movable type. Its woodcuts are rather crude, are hand-coloured, and are occasionally slightly missplaced on the page. The ''Belial'' is the only one of the nine books without woodcut illustrations. Only two of the editions have dates printed in them: the earlier of the two Edelsteins (1461) and the ''History'' (1462). Like other very early printers, he concentrated on titles which had already proved popular in

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...

form. He also printed

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of ...

s. In addition he has been suggested as the printer of the

36-line Bible The 36-line Bible, also known as the "Bamberg Bible",British Library/ref> (and sometimes called a "Gutenberg Bible") was the second moveable-type-printed edition of the Bible. It is believed to have been printed in Bamberg, Germany, circa 14 ...

of 1458-60. This view has not been favoured by scholars for a century or so, principally because of the superior quality of the Bible's printing, especially compared with Pfister's earliest productions. However the Bible was probably printed in Bamberg, with the D-K type which Pfister later made use of, and which had originated with Gutenberg.

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External links

digital images of Latin Biblia Pauperum
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pfister, Albrecht 1420s births 1460s deaths German printers Printers of incunabula Medieval German merchants 15th-century German businesspeople

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