Johann Mentelin
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Johannes Mentelin, sometimes also spelled Mentlin, (born around 1410 in Schlettstadt, today Sélestat; died December 12, 1478, in
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
) was a pioneering German book printer and bookseller. In 1466 he printed and published the first
German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
.


Career

Mentelin came from Selestadt and in 1447, Johannes Mentelin gained the rights of a Strasbourg citizen. He was first a ''Goldschreiber'' (
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 ...
and book scribe) by profession and worked in addition as an episcopal
notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...
. At the end of the 1450s Mentelin founded his Strasbourg printery. At the time there was still no other place where printing was done besides
Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
. It is likely, that Mentelin either got his knowledge directly there or through a middleman. Such a go-between might have been Heinrich Eggestein. It is suspected that he had been introduced to the trade of book printing during his stay in Mainz from
Johannes Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg ( – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and Artisan, craftsman who invented the movable type, movable-type printing press. Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg's inven ...
. He did not set up his own ''Offizin'' (an old German term for a book printing company) until the middle of the 1460s. Due to a lack of sources, the final clarification of this question must unfortunately remain unanswered for now. From the available data, it can however be concluded that Mentelin was the first book printer active in Strasbourg and thus one of the first anywhere in Europe, even before Heinrich Eggestein. The first printing which carries Mentelin's name is
Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
's ''Tractatus de arte praedicandi'' from the year 1465. However, it is assumed that Mentelin had already begun to print significantly earlier, probably even already in 1458. His oldest known printed work is a
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
Bible printed with 49 lines per page ("B49"), whose first volume is dated 1460. As Gutenberg's Bible was printed with 42 lines per page, Mentelin's had fewer pages and proved handier. Mentelin quickly achieved business success, which made him a prosperous man. In 1466, he was even awarded a
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
by Emperor Frederick III. After about 20 years as a book printer, Mentelin died on December 12, 1478, in Strasbourg. He was buried in the cemetery of the (no longer existing) St.-Michael's-Chapel. His grave was later removed and is now inside
Strasbourg Cathedral Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', ), also known as Strasbourg Minster (church), Minster (), is a Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Although considerable parts of ...
. One of daughters married the book printer Martin Schott, and another married Adolf Rusch.


Printed works

In 1466 he printed and published the first
German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
. However, about 40 printed works are ascribed to Mentelin's Strasbourg ''Offizin''. His printing and publishing list contained predominantly theological and philosophical works in Latin, whose purity of text was ensured by scholarly proofreaders. Among others, works of Augustine,
Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...
,
Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
,
John Chrysostom John Chrysostom (; ; – 14 September 407) was an important Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and p ...
,
Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville (; 4 April 636) was a Spania, Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville, archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of the 19th-century historian Charles Forbes René de Montal ...
and
Albertus Magnus Albertus Magnus ( 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great, Albert of Swabia, Albert von Bollstadt, or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop, considered one of the great ...
were issued. In 1472 he published the ''Postilla super totam Bibliam'', Nicolaus de Lyra's commentary of the Bible. Mentelin also published texts of
classical antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...
(such as
Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
's ''Opera'' and the ''Comoediae'' of
Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a playwright during the Roman Republic. He was the author of six Roman comedy, comedies based on Greek comedy, Greek originals by Menander or Apollodorus of Carystus. A ...
). As the only German book printer, Mentelin printed Medieval court literature, such as
Wolfram von Eschenbach Wolfram von Eschenbach (; – ) was a German knight, poet and composer, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry. Life Little is known of Wolfram's life. Ther ...
's ''Parzival'' and ''Der jüngere Titurel'' ("The Younger Titurel") of Albrecht von Scharfenberg.


Literature

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mentelin, Johannes 1410s births 1478 deaths People from Sélestat Printers of incunabula German typographers and type designers German printers German calligraphers Alsatian-German people Medieval European scribes German scribes German booksellers Medieval German merchants 15th-century German businesspeople