Konrad von Megenberg Buch der Natur 1481

Johann Bämler (sometimes Johannes Bämler, Johann Baemler or Hans Bemler, 1430–1503) was a printer, illuminator and bookseller from

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

, Germany. Bämler is mentioned in Augsburgian city records from 1453 as a scribe and from 1477 as a printer. He appears to have begun his career as an illuminator and

calligrapher Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

; a few illuminated manuscript pages and books decorated by calligraphy by his hand survive to this day (in the

Free Library of Philadelphia The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the 16th-largest public library system in the United States. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the ...

Bavarian State Library The Bavarian State Library (, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central " Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the biggest universal and research libra ...

Herzog August Library The Herzog August Library ( — "HAB"), in Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, known also as ''Bibliotheca Augusta'', is a library of international importance for its collection from the Middle Ages and early modern Europe. The library is overseen ...

, Morgan Library & Museum and others). He probably learnt the art of print-making in the shop of Günther Zainer. The first printed book by Bämler appeared in April 1472, and the first illustrated printed book from his workshop in September 1473. He based his

typeface A typeface (or font family) is a design of Letter (alphabet), letters, Numerical digit, numbers and other symbols, to be used in printing or for electronic display. Most typefaces include variations in size (e.g., 24 point), weight (e.g., light, ...

s on local cursive script, and they are considered to have contributed to the development of the

Schwabacher The German language, German word Schwabacher (pronounced ) refers to a specific style of blackletter typefaces which evolved from Gothic Blackletter#Textualis, Textualis (''Textura'') under the influence of Humanist minuscule, Humanist type desi ...

. Approximately half of the books printed in his printing office were illustrated with

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

or other decorative elements. He belonged to the guild of painters, glassmakers, woodcut-makers and goldbeaters, and eventually reached a high position within the guild. His printing activity ceased in 1495.

External links

Digitised version of his first printed book, ''Lehr und Unterweisung'', from the Bavarian State LibraryChronik von allen Kaisern, Königen und Päpsten
Augsburg, Anton Sorg, 9 Sept. (Sampstag na¨chst nach Vnser Frawen Gepurt) 1480. From th

at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Buch der Natur.
Augsburg, Johann Bämler, 20 Aug. (Montag vor S. Bartholomaeus) 1481. From th

at the

Summa confessorum.
German (Middle High German). Augsburg Johann Bämler, 25 Sept (Freytag vor Michaelis) 1472. From th

at the

Collationes patrum XXIV.
German. Augsburg, Johann Bämler, 18 Dec. (Freitag vor Weihnachten) 42. From th
Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection
at the

Historia de preliis.
German. Augsburg, Johann Bämler, 28 June (Montag nach Johannes Baptistae) 1473. From th

at the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bamler, Johann 1430 births 1503 deaths German booksellers German printers Printers from the Holy Roman Empire Booksellers from the Holy Roman Empire Printers of incunabula Businesspeople from Augsburg