Johann Amerbach

Johann Amerbach (1444 in Amorbach, Germany; 25 December 1514 in Basel, Switzerland) was a celebrated printer in Basel in the 15th century. He was the first printer in Basel to use the Roman type instead of Gothic and Italian and spared no expense in his art.

Early life and education

Amerbach was born in 1444 as Johann Welcker in Amorbach, Odenwald, to the Mayor of Amorbach, Peter Welcker. He studied at the Sorbonne in Paris where he graduated with a Master of Arts, in 1464. His lecturer in Paris was Johann Heynlin. Following he stayed in Venice, one of the main printing locations at the time and developed an affinity for the printing business. In 1475 he settled in Basel, where he opened a printshop, and was initially known as the Hans of Venice. Only later he was given the surname Amerbach. His first print dates from 1478 and was a by Johann Reuchlin composed lexicon for the latin language. He was involved in cooperations with the German publisher Anton Koberger in Nürnberg for who he also printed some editions.

Printing career

He and his fellow printers Johannes Froben and Johannes Petri became known as the Three Hannsen, as they joined forces for many of their projects and were regarded as the major printers of Basel. In 1484 he earned the citizenship of Basel and became the city's most important printer, developing own distribution channels towards Strasbourg and Paris. Additionally he usually visited the fair in Frankfurt am Main twice a year, often accompanied by other printers of Basel. Many of his clients were of a christian religious background and he mainly printed theological books. A further cooperation with the printer Anton Koberger from Nuremberg, opened the market towards Eastern and Southern Europe for his books. By 1486, he was the first printer in Basel, to have used the then modern Antiqua type for printing which caused a surge in published books authored by humanists. His edition of the ''Letters of Francesco Filelfo'' was the first printed book in the Antique typeface outside of Italy. Between 1487 and 1500, he diversified and more frequently published in the German language. From 1498 to 1502 he printed a seven-volumed bible with a commentary of Hugh of Saint-Cher for Koberger. The editor of the bible was Conrad of Leonberg. He owned two printing houses, one on each side of the Rhine in Basel. In 1490 Amerbach bought the house "to the chair" in the centre of Basel where he opened an additional printing house and by 1496 he founded together with Johannes Petreius and Johann Froben an alliance of three printers in which most of the costs for printing books was divided between either two or three printers. Larger projects like the collected works of Augustinus the three published together"Das Haus zum Sessel" p.2 for smaller projects they relied on themselves. Even though he sold the printing house in the House to the Chair to Froben in 1507, the alliances cooperation would last until 1512. His successor would be Johann Froben, a close friend to Erasmus of Rotterdam. During his lifetime, he assembled an extensive library which would be included in the Amerbach-Cabinet by his grandson Basilius Amerbach.

Personal life

He married Barbara Ortenberg (a daughter of a politician of Basel) in 1483 and was the father of Basilius Amerbach ("the Elder", 1488–1535) and Bonifacius Amerbach (1495–1562, father of Basilius Amerbach the Younger). He was buried in the .

References

Further reading

*Alfred Hartmann (editor), ''Die Amerbachkorrespondenz'', vol. 1, Verlag der Universitätsbibliothek Basel, Basel 1942, ,
*Barbara C. Halporn (editor), ''The Correspondence of Johann Amerbach'', University of Michigan Press, November 2000, hardcover, 400 pages,

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amerbach, Johann
1440s births
1513 deaths
German printers
People from Amorbach