THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
Gospels, and Sermons for the Year printed by Govaert Вас in 1496.l It is possible to
judge by the impression of this book (of which a page is reset here as fig. 6), that the
letter was newly cast.. .2
Govaert (Godefroi) Вас, or Back as he sometimes spelled it, was a prolific printer;
and he was fond of our English-bodied Black Letter, if I may judge by its use in all
his books that are known to me up to 1500. Later on he acquired a Great Primer
of similar design cut probably by Henric's son of which I shall have more to say in
the next chapter.
Another user of our English-bodied Black Letter was the well-known Antwerp
printer Roland van den Dorpe. The earliest work attributed to him is a chronicle
of Brabant, Flanders, Holland, and Zealand, supposed to have been printed in 1494.
Campbell, in his Annales,3 is doubtful of the existence of this book. My enquiry into
the history of the type shows that he had reason to be so ; for the first book that can
0altlee eñ openbaetOe fijn 0lotte. eñ fijn tonglje
ten in Цет Ê Ibetmo.
taptie facte funt tu ajana. зд.Эо.9. Шг Щ
1е0е ettau0elie kpt alo %Щ 0^oett ^ebt
uan eente btuloft Die 0^efo)ieDe in фапа Dat io
in een depn uttyept eñ Іаф int lant uä 0altleen:
«Эіе bmoe0om toao iotyâtteo euau0elifta alo fo
mí0e leetato (è00ë. <6ñ Daee om qua tritt? Daet
от Dat Щ tol;anem nano btuloft toepe toouOe
tot fijnen ionrjßet. fan uaö btuloft Die to tuft^en
man eñ tnüf Die mittet tydlegtyet betbet ufaemt
fijn mil к een luttel (e00en. Ш ímltdunt ftaet fai
een ie0elic in eetê" tyebbe oratmito uit puttcten.
«Bat ktue Dat io rpo tijeftto 0OD eñ menfitye Den
tyumelicben ftaet ^eeft 0emaect. Mnö oetDe tyeb=
be 0eftic^t fante, alo. о. îêetnatDuo De gtaume
oetDen. 0. îêeneDtrtuo Die fmatte. 0. jPtanctfcuo
Die minDetbtoeDeto. fñatt De ^plicben ftaet tye=
net alleen goD gemaect. фф Ijoe ЫЩ fijn fi Die
alDuo gtotë abt eñ ptelaet l;ebben. mat otto Dpe
uíj. factamenten to Die ЦеіЩе ftaet eñ oecb Dat
alDet ierft gemaect mao. «BanDet punct to 0? Die
Suelte gemaect mao inOen faleg^en tuDeneet a=
Dam eñ etta fonOe DeOen. Daet от toott ono te be
ran gegera Dat man eñ muffii ЩеЫЫ ftaet le=
ran mögen fono* fimOe. <&at DetDe puna io mât
Ще\к gemaect mao t Die tjetltdjte ftat bk op ett=
riebe io Dat mao tnDè pataDtfe l;tet in mott bemi
let Dat Die gene Die De IjneltcUc ftaetmelbe^ottDê
f t
Fig. 6. English-bodied Black Letter no. i. Resetting of a page from
the Episteleit ende Evangelien, Antwerp, Govaert Вас, 1496.
[i] CA 706.
[2] A sentence giving information now known to be wrong
has been omitted. The earliest evidence locating Henric is
his imprint in a book at Antwerp in 1496. He is not known
to have been in Delft until about 1508.
[3] CA 5io.
12
HENRIC LETTERSNIDER
certainly be ascribed to Van den Dorpe is dated 1497. That also is set in our type.
It is a beautiful piece of work (see fig. 8, p. 15) with the short title Die alder excellenste
cronyie van Brabant1 and the imprint in Dutch : 'Printed by me Roland van den Dorpe
dwelling at Antwerp in the Huidevettersstraat at the Friars of our Lady, anno 1497,
on the last day of February. For God's sake a Pater Noster and an Ave Maria for those who
compiled and printed it' (see p. 14). The book is set in brand new letter, and no earlier
work by Van den Dorpe being known, it seems likely that he set up at Antwerp in
1497 and bought all his type from Henric Lettersnider.2
I should like to go on cataloguing the Antwerp printers who used the English-
bodied Black Letter during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries ; but if I were to do
so, I should exceed the limits of this book, for it was much favoured. I must, how¬
ever, spare a word for Jan and Willem Vorsterman, who produced one of the earliest
books in Flemish on botany, Den herbarius in Dietsche (see fig.7)3 The title is woodcut,
OuttmeeftepartiUelDeoboecbrtouämeDicineDie
tetcametenoftetenftoelDoengaêofDaettoebetep
en <6nDemottg^eDdlttnrucaptttelen.
«Bat eetfte capittel eo uan aloe
«Bat. n. capittel eo uan agarioto
«Bat. tu. capittel eo uan coloqumttOa
¡Dat. tuj. capttteleo uan cafltaftftula
«Bat. u. capittel eo uan eufotbium.
«Bat.ui.capittele0uanu9fOet^anOemitabolanen
«Bat. nijucapitteleouan manna
©at.um.capttteleouanccbacben
«Bat. ri. capittel eo uan tamatinOen.
«Bat. ru. cap. eñ tiefte Defet patticuleneouäfubete
«Bat eetfte capittel eo uan aloe.
loeoftaloeoeotyeeteñDtogeinOettueDegraet
DmelcmotOt0emaectmtDenfappeeëoctupto.
oecalfo0e^eten.HloetoDtpeîi^anDetemetëfucotri=
nü.epattmmeñcaballinü«Bteeetftealoefwomnñ
0^enoemteo DataltebefteOtnolcbmenbennetbtttj
Det0^eelDetofttoDetuetmenenDealftmebtebetfo
fc^inetinfijnbtebin0^eoftmaet0^ebtobenfoftraë
«BattmeeDemDeDatbeftealoenaeftficotttnñeo^e=
noemptepatícttmant^etDetleuetenínfijnDetuee=
mee0^elucbtmelcbetuflcenfmetteñ0^eeltoal0ott
0l;eftoltbloetmacrDatfcüntDoncbet0l|eeleñbleec
fmert<$oetaloeepaticu^eefttooec0oetbeoalooft
maten monDen uan aOeten Daet tbloet Deo Ііфаео
íntufthebbenOeeenDoncbet0tyeOaetenpetlodaet
U t
Fig. 7. Engl ish-bodied Black Letter No. i. Resetting of the first page of
the Herbarius in Dietsche, Antwerp, Willem Vorsterman,s.d.
[1] CA 508. 1496, Kronenberg, Contributions, Ch. 1985 b, HPT 1, pp. 97, 393.
[2] There is one book known to have been printed by him in [3] nk 1050 (c. 1511).
4