
Balthasar Moretus or Balthasar I Moretus (23 July 1574 – 6 July 1641) was a Flemish printer and head of the
Officina Plantiniana, the printing company established by his grandfather
Christophe Plantin
Christophe Plantin (; – 1 July 1589) was a French Renaissance humanist and book Printer (publisher), printer and publisher who resided and worked in Antwerp. He established in Antwerp one of the most prominent publishing houses of his time, th ...
in Antwerp in 1555. He was the son of
Martina Plantin
Martina Plantin (1550–1616) was involved in her father's printing business from five years of age, and ran the family lace shop from the age of 17. After her father and husband had died, she was the head of the Plantin Press, Plantin-Moretus p ...
and
Jan Moretus
Jan Moretus, also John Moerentorf or Joannes Moretus (2 May 1543 – 22 September 1610), was a Flemish printer who was an apprentice for Christophe Plantin, married his daughter, and later inherited the printing business on his father-in- ...
.
Life
Moretus was the son of
Jan Moretus
Jan Moretus, also John Moerentorf or Joannes Moretus (2 May 1543 – 22 September 1610), was a Flemish printer who was an apprentice for Christophe Plantin, married his daughter, and later inherited the printing business on his father-in- ...
and
Martina Plantin
Martina Plantin (1550–1616) was involved in her father's printing business from five years of age, and ran the family lace shop from the age of 17. After her father and husband had died, she was the head of the Plantin Press, Plantin-Moretus p ...
, daughter of
Christophe Plantin
Christophe Plantin (; – 1 July 1589) was a French Renaissance humanist and book Printer (publisher), printer and publisher who resided and worked in Antwerp. He established in Antwerp one of the most prominent publishing houses of his time, th ...
. Both of his parents had worked at the Plantin printing business.
Balthasar Moretus was paralysed on his right side. He studied for a few months under
Justus Lipsius
Justus Lipsius (Joest Lips or Joost Lips; October 18, 1547 – March 23, 1606) was a Flemish Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatibl ...
, but then fell sick and returned home to work in the office. At first he was a proofreader, but soon he took over more responsibilities. After the death of his father
Jan Moretus
Jan Moretus, also John Moerentorf or Joannes Moretus (2 May 1543 – 22 September 1610), was a Flemish printer who was an apprentice for Christophe Plantin, married his daughter, and later inherited the printing business on his father-in- ...
in 1610, Balthasar took over the company together with his brother Jan II.
After the death of Jan II in 1619, Balthazar started a partnership with
Jan van Meurs
Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to:
Acronyms
* Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN
* Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code
* Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group
* Japanese Article Num ...
, who was married to a sister of Maria De Sweert, the wife of Jan II Moretus. This lasted until 1629. By that time, Balthasar II Moretus, son of Jan II, was helping his uncle, and would eventually take over the company after his death in 1641. Balthasar I never married.
When he was the head of the Officina, he continued ordering illustrations from the workshop of engraver
Theodore Galle. He also contacted
Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...
to design title pages and provide other illustrations. He knew Rubens from his school period and they were lifelong friends. Apart from many book illustrations and designs, Balthasar also ordered 19 portraits from Rubens. Many of those are still preserved in the Plantin-Moretus Museum, and include portraits of Christoffel Plantin, Jan I Moretus and Justus Lipsius.
Balthasar I Moretus was also responsible for the expansion and completion of the buildings of the company, which now are the
Plantin-Moretus Museum. They were built in the Renaissance style, and together with Rubens' house in Baroque style were considered highlights of early seventeenth century civil building in Antwerp. The Museum, both the building and the interior, is now a Unesco
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
.
Works

This is a very partial list of the works published during the years that Balthasar I Moretus was leading the Plantin company. Some of them are reprints of works published earlier by the Plantin company of by other companies, but most are first impressions. Until 1616, the books were officially printed by the widow and sons of Jan Moretus: between 1616 and 1618, by Jan and Balthasar Moretus; from 1618 until 1629, both the widow of Jan II and Jan van Meurs may be mentioned as co-printers: between 1629 and 1641, only Balthasar was mentioned.
*1613: Balthasar Moretus, ''Iusti Lipsi sapientiæ et litterarum antistitis fama postuma''
*1613:
Pedro de Ribadeneira
Pedro de Ribadeneira (born Pedro Ortiz de Cisneros; 1 November 1527 – 10 September or 22 September 1611) was a Spanish hagiographer, Jesuit priest, companion of Ignatius of Loyola, and a Spanish Golden Age ascetic writer.
Life
Pedro was b ...
, ''Catalogus scriptorum religionis Societatis Iesu''
*1613:
Thomas Stapleton, ''Promptuarium morale super Evangelia dominicalia''
*1613: ''Missale Romanum'', with illustrations by Rubens, reprinted 1618
*1613:
François d'Aguilon
François d'Aguilon (; also d'Aguillon or in Latin Franciscus Aguilonius) (4 January 1567 – 20 March 1617) was a Jesuit, mathematician, physicist, and architect from the Spanish Netherlands.
D'Aguilon was born in Brussels; his father was a sec ...
, ''Opticorum libri sex'', with illustrations by Rubens
*1614:
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger ( ; AD 65), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, a dramatist, and in one work, a satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature.
Seneca ...
, ''Opera, quae exstant omnia'', with illustrations by Rubens
*1614:
Justus Lipsius
Justus Lipsius (Joest Lips or Joost Lips; October 18, 1547 – March 23, 1606) was a Flemish Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatibl ...
, ''De militia romana''
*1614:
Leonardus Lessius
Lenaert Leys, better known as Leonardus Lessius (1 October 1554 in Brecht - 15 January 1623, in Leuven) was a Brabant jurist, theologian, economist from the Jesuit order.
Nicknamed the "oracle of the Low Countries", figurehead of the School o ...
, ''Quae fides et religio sit capessenda''
*1614: ''Breviarium Romanum'', with illustrations by Rubens
*1615:
Robert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine (; ; 4 October 1542 – 17 September 1621) was an Italian Jesuit and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was canonized a saint in 1930 and named Doctor of the Church, one of only 37. He was one of the most important figure ...
, ''De ascensione mentis in Deum''
*1617: Leonardus Lessius, ''De iustitia et iure'', with illustrations by Rubens
*1620:
Henricus Culens, ''Spiritualium Strenarum ac variarum Concionum manipulus''
*1620: Robert Bellarmine, ''De arte bene moriendi''
*1621: Justus Lipsius, ''De Vesta et vestalibus syntagma''
*1621: ''Litaniae omnium Sanctorum'', with engravings by the atelier of Theodore Galle
*1622:
Aubert Miraeus
Aubert le Mire, Latinized Aubertus Miraeus (30 November 1573 – 19 October 1640) was an ecclesiastical historian in the Spanish Netherlands.
Life
Miraeus was born in Brussels. His father was Guillaume le Mire and his mother Joanna Speecka ...
, ''De vita Alberti pii, sapientis, prudentis Belgarum principis commentarius''
*1622: Augustinus Mascardus, ''Silvarum'', with illustrations by Rubens
*1622: Henricus Culens, ''Thesaurus locorum communium, de nova et vetera proferuntur''
*1624: ''Biblia Sacra Vulgatae editionis''
*1626:
Balthasar Cordier, ''Catena Sexaginta quinque Graecorum Patrum in S. Lucam'', with illustrations by Rubens
*1626:
Joannes Malder, ''Tractatus de sigillo confessionis sacramentalis''
*1627: ''Pontificale Romanum iussu Clementis VIII Pont. Max.''
*1627:
Libert Froidmont
Libert Froidmont (Latin: ''Libertus Fromondus''; 3 September 1587, in Haccourt-Liège – 28 October 1653, in Louvain) a son of Gerard Libert de Froidmont and Marguerite Radoux, was a Liégeois theologian and scientist. He was a close companion t ...
, ''Meteorologicorum''
*1628: Justus Lipsius, ''De constantia''
*1630: Balthasar Cordier, ''Catena patrum graecorum in Sanctum Joannem''
*1631: Libert Froidmont, ''Labyrinthus''
*1631:
Erycius Puteanus
Erycius Puteanus (4 November 1574 – 17 September 1646) was a humanist and philologist from the Low Countries.
Name
Erycius Puteanus is a Latinization (literature), latinization of his name, which was rendered in various ways, including Hendri ...
, ''Diva virgo Bellifontana in Sequanis: loci ac pietatis descriptio''
*1631:
Edmund Campion
Edmund Campion, SJ (25 January 15401 December 1581) was an English Jesuit priest and martyr. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Anglican England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason, he was ...
, ''Decem rationes propositae in causa fidei, et opuscula eius selecta''
*1633:
Jodocus à Castro, ''Conciones super Evangelia dominicalia. Pars Hiemalis''
*1633: Balthasar Cordier, ''Opera S. Dionysii Areopagitae'', with illustrations by Rubens
*1634:
Pedro de Bivero, ''Sacrum oratorium piarum imaginum immaculatae Mariae''
*1634:
Silvester Petra Sancta
Silvester Petra Sancta (1590, in Rome – 6 May 1647, in Rome) was an Italian Jesuit priest, and heraldist. His name is also spelt as Sylvester Petra Sancta, Petrasancta, in Italian Padre Silvestro da Pietrasanta. Pseudonym: Coelius S ...
, ''De symbolis heroicis''
*1635:
Benedictus van Haeften, ''Regia via Crucis''
*1635:
Maximilianus ab Eynatten, ''Manuale exorcismorum''
*1637: Justus Lipsius, ''Opera omnia, postremum ab ipso aucta et recensita''
*1637:
Vincentius Guinisius, ''Lvcensis e Soc. Iesv Poesis''
*1638:
Carolus Neapolis, ''Anaptyxis ad fastos P. Ovidii Nasonis''
*1640: ''Imago primi saeculi Societatis Iesu'', celebrating 100 years of the Jesuit congregation
Notes
Sources
*Metropolitan Museum: Information on Rubens' involvement with Moretus
*
Max Rooses
Max Rooses (10 February 1839 – 15 July 1914) was a Belgian writer, literary critic, and curator of the Plantin-Moretus Museum at Antwerp.
Rooses was born in Antwerp, and went to school there up to 1858, after which he attended the University ...
, ''Petrus-Paulus Rubens en Balthasar Moretus. Een bijdrage tot de geschiedenis der Kunst''
*
Leon Voet, ''The Golden Compasses: the history of the House of Plantin-Moretus'' chapter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moretus, Balthasar I
Flemish printers
1574 births
1641 deaths
Businesspeople from Antwerp
Businesspeople from the Spanish Netherlands