Johann Froben
Johann Froben, in Latin: Johannes Frobenius (and combinations), (c. 1460 – 27 October 1527) was a famous printer, publisher and learned Renaissance humanist in Basel. He was a close friend of Erasmus and cooperated closely with Hans Holbein the Younger. He made Basel one of the world's leading centres of the book trade. He passed his printing business on to his son, Hieronymus, and grandson, Ambrosius Frobenius.
Early life and printing partnership
Johann Froben was born in
Printing career
In 1513, he carefully published a copy of Erasmus Adagia with a cover designed by Urs Graf depicting the gods Nemesis and Caerus with an allegory of a triumphant Humanitas in a chariot pulled by Homer and Demosthenes and pushed by Cicero and Vergil.[2][7] In 1514 Erasmus settled to Basel.[6]
Froben became friends with Erasmus, who lived in his house when in Basel, and not only had his own works printed by him from 1514,[8] but superintended Froben's editions of Jerome, Cyprian, Tertullian, Hilary of Poitiers and Ambrose. His printing of Erasmus' Novum Testamentum (1516) was used by Martin Luther for his translation.[3] He and later his son have published more than 200 works by Erasmus of Rotterdam.[8] Through a deeply ramificated web of distributors the works of the Frobens reached the European book market in Venice, London, Frankfurt or Paris in a timely manner.[9]
Froben employed
Death
Upon his death in October 1527 in Basel,
Froben is, through his descendant Anna Catharina Bischoff a direct ancestor of the former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The young woman pictured with his memorial plaque in the notes section below is his American 11th great-granddaughter whose mother's maiden name is Frobenius.
Legacy
Froben's work in Basel made that city in the 16th century the leading center of the Swiss book trade. An existing letter of Erasmus, written in the year of Froben's death, gives an idea of his life and an estimate of his character; and in it Erasmus mentions that his grief for the death of his friend was far more distressing than that which he had felt for the loss of his own brother, adding that "all the apostles of science ought to wear mourning".[3] The epistle concludes with an epitaph in Greek and Latin.[3] He was well known for his Greek typeface, and he was also one of the first printers to have had their own Hebrew typeface.[10] According to Beatus Rhenanus, who was one of his employees, he published only prominent works and despised the lesser ones.[10]
- Johann Froben' marks
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References
- ^ S2CID 143916969.
- ^ JSTOR 43446603.
- ^ a b c d e f Chisholm 1911.
- ^ a b c "Das Haus zum Sessel" (PDF). University of Basel. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- )
- ^ a b Sebastiani, Valentina; Ricketts, Wendell (2014),p.219
- ^ "Erasmi Roterodami Germaniae decoris Adagiorum chiliades tres, ac centuriae fere totidem". www.e-rara.ch. 1513. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-7913-3580-3.
- ^ Sebastiani, Valentina; Ricketts, Wendell (2014),p.220
- ^ ISBN 978-3-0348-6561-6.
- ^ Stein, Wilhelm (1920). Holbein der Jüngere. Berlin: Julius Bard Verlag. p. 108.
- ^ Müller, Christian (2006) p.295
- ^ Sebastiani, Valentina; Ricketts, Wendell (2014),p.224
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Froben, Joannes". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 237.
External links
- . Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.
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