but what about Peter Schöffer? He was born in Gernsheim, a town on the Rhine about 50km south of Mainz where Johannes Gutenberg, studied in Paris at the Sorbonne, worked as a scribe and calligrapher, and when he returned to Germany he started out as … Continue reading You’ve Heard of Gutenberg
Most people know Johannes Gutenberg as the inventor of the movable-type printing press in the 15th century. He had a collaborator in Peter Schöffer, an alumni of the Sorbonne in Paris where he studied either law or theology. He improved on Gutenberg’s invention and was critically important in establishing the idea of copyright. Today he is considered to be one of the best printers, editors and booksellers of Europe who pushed the artistic boundaries as well as the economic possibilties of the book trade.
He was born in Gernsheim on the river Rhine where in 1836 they put up a monument in his honour.
He lived in Mainz and his estate was known as the Schöfferhof where later somebody established a brewery. To this day, Schöfferhofer is a well-known wheat beer brewed in Mainz.
Where would we be without books? Where would books be if Johannes Gutenberg hadn’t invented movable letters? Probably not in a very different position than today.
No, this is not Gutenberg but Peter Schöffer. An early collaborator of Gutenberg who scholars today think was more than an apprentice but quite essential in the devolopment of book printing and publishing. The wikipedia article in German on him is much more detailed than the English one but for what it is worth if somebody is interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sch%C3%B6ffer
This statue stands in Schöffer’s hometown of Gernsheim, about 50km south of Mainz, where Gutenberg lived. And as an aside: I like his legacy. It’s a very tasty beer!
And the connection to culture and alcohol is never far away in a wine growing / beer brewing area. Rheinhessen advertises this on the cable car, pure and culture rhyme in German.
Linked to One Word Sunday: Culture.
… because. books.
Open bookcases where anyone can take or bring books are seen all over the place these days. Sometimes they are found in sturdy cupboards,
sometimes in display cabinets,
often they are built into old telephone boots.
There are always people perusing the shelves to see if some book whets their appetite.
And sometimes they leave already poring over the first pages of their new reading material.
Some readers need a proper place and other creature comforts before they settle down with a book.
Some people need company, even if it is inanimate.
A sculpture of a reading girl in front of a bookstore in Michelstadt,
and another one in front of the public library in Ladenburg.
And this is Peter Schöffer.
Who was he? You heard of Johannes Gutenberg who invented movable type printing. But he had help – hardly any great inventor can do without – and today we recognise that Peter Schöffer of Gernsheim was more than an assistant but a highly educated inventor in his own right who improved on Gutenberg’s design and was to a large extent responsible for the economic success of book printing and thus the spread of books to the masses.
Linked to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: books and paper.
pictures imperfect blog 