Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten
Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten or Michel Hillenius (Hoogstraten, c. 1476, – Antwerp, 22 July 1558), was a Flemish printer, publisher, bookseller and bookbinder.[1] His printing press put out publications in a wide range of genres, including imperial ordinances, almanacs, devotional literature, anthologies of customs, textbooks, etc.[2] He also printed humanistic writings by Erasmus, Adrianus Barlandus and Jacobus Latomus as well as the first Dutch-language version of the story of Till Eulenspiegel. His multiple editions of the Bible in Dutch translation were among the first to be published.[3] Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten is regarded as the most important publisher active in Antwerp in the first half of the sixteenth century.[4]
Life
Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten was the son of Jan Hillen and Catharina Dibbouts and was born between 1470 and 1485 in Hoogstraten, north of Antwerp. This explains why later he added the words van Hoochstraten (from Hoogstraten) to his family name Hillen. His parents owned some properties in his hometown.[5]
Michiel became active in Antwerp in 1506, officially as a bookbinder. He also operated as a book printer, publisher and bookseller.[3] In 1508 Hillen was registered as a citizen of Antwerp.[5] He moved the location of his printing press a number of times but he remained within the well-known 'print district' of Antwerp.[3] In 1518 he bought a house on the Cammerstraat which bore the name "In den Rape" (In the Turnip). Here he ran his printing business until 1546.[3]
After the death of his son Jan who also worked in his workshop, he handed over his printing business in 1546 to his son-in-law Joannes (Jan) Steels who was married to his daughter Margareta.[6] Michiel Hillen died on 22 July 1558.[5]
Publishing activities
Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten printed and published works in a diverse range of genres. This included imperial ordinances, anthologies of local laws and customs, almanacs, textbooks, etc. He also printed many of the humanistic writings by local writers such as Erasmus, Adrianus Barlandus and Latomus.[1] He further produced books for the English market. The art of printing developed rather late in England. As a result, foreign book printers, including those from Antwerp, played an important role in supplying the English market. Hillen published for the English market Johann Eck's anti-Lutheran publication Enchi ridion locorum communium aduersus Lutheranos (printed for the English printer Henry Pepwell) and an edition of the Sarum Hymns and Sequences.[6] In addition he published in 1530 The practyse of prelates by the English reformer William Tyndale, who resided in Antwerp beginning from 1528. In this work Tyndale criticized the divorce of Henry VIII. The first page of Hillen van Hoochstraten's print of Tyndale's work carried a false printing location, i.e. Marburg.[7] Hillen also published the English edition of the Book of Genesis from 1530.[8]
Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten printed a Dutch version of the
Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten printed in 1527 a Dutch translation of the
Michiel Hillen also printed a number of 'heretical' works. Although he published a number of these works under his own name, to avoid problems with the censors he also published others without mentioning a printer, or using a pseudonym or a false address. Overall he remained a cautious businessman when compared to some of his fellow printers. While some titles from his print catalogue were placed on the Index of forbidden books, it appears he never ran foul of the authorities. It is possible that thanks to his large output, his works escaped the attention of the authorities.[3]
Many of Hillen's publications are illustrated with woodcuts. These were either original works cut by Dirck Vellert and Jan Swart van Groningen, taken from incunables, or copied after works by Hans Holbein the Younger and French engravers.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d Ulenspieghel (1978) Antwerpen, Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten, Ca. 1519, In: Vervliet H.D.L. (eds) Post-Incunabula en Hun Uitgevers in de Lage Landen / Post-Incunabula and Their Publishers in the Low Countries. Springer, Dordrecht
- ^ List of books printed by Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten at Universiteitsbibliotheek Gent
- ^ a b c d e Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten, at Nieuwe Testament, 1530 Antwerpen at Biblia Neerlandica (in Dutch)
- ^ Jan van der Stock, Antwerp, story of a metropolis: 16th-17th century : Antwerp, Hessenhuis 25 June-10 October 1993], Snoeck-Ducaju & Zoon, 1993, p. 88
- ^ a b c Uitgaven der Maatschappij der Antwerpsche bibliophilen, Volumes 12-13, Vereeniging der Antwerpsche bibliophilen, J.-E. Buschmann, 1883, p213-214
- ^ a b E. Gordon Duff, A Century of the English Book Trade: Short Notices of All Printers, Stationers, Book-Binders, and Others Connected with It from the Issue of the First Dated Book in 1457 to the Incorporation of the Company of Stationers in 1557, Cambridge University Press, first edition published in 1905, republished in 2011, p. 74
- ^ William Tyndale, The practyse of prelates, Marburg [= Antwerp], Joannes Hillen van Hoochstraten, 1530, at Flanders Heritage Library and Koninklijke Bibliotheek
- ^ Biblia Sacra
- ^ Paul Oppenheimer, "Introduction" in: Till Eulenspiegel. His Adventures. Routledge, 1991, p. LXIII
- ^ Ruth Michaelis-Jena, Eulenspiegel and Münchhausen: Two German Folk Heroes, Folklore 97.1 (1986:101-108), p. 102
- Hendrik D. L. Vervliet, The earliest Dutch edition of Till Eulenspiegel A problem of dating in: Quaerendo, 1 Jan 1973, Volume 3: Issue 1
- ^ a b Anonym, Ulenspieghel, Michiel van Hoochstraten, Antwerpen, Facsimile at the Royal Library of Denmark
- ^ Tyl Uilenspiegel. Antwerp, Michiel van Hoochstraten, z.j. (c.1512), M. Nijhoff, The Hague, 1898
External links
Media related to Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten at Wikimedia Commons