From the 16th century to the present: Two professors from UNamur explore what we can still learn from the books of printer and publisher Christophe Plantin

With 905 editions published by Christophe Plantin, the Moretus Plantin University Library (BUMP) at UNamur is now home to one of the largest Plantin collections in Belgium. The largest collection is housed at the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp, located in the former home and printing house of Christophe Plantin. This rich heritage was significantly expanded in 2020, when the collection assembled by Philippe de Dorlodot, a prominent private collector of Plantin editions, was donated to the King Baudouin Foundation, with the wish that it be preserved at UNamur. This exceptional collection has already been the subject of a catalog and has inspired a collective work dedicated to the legacy of this great Renaissance printer. 

“It all began with a phone call from the BUMP Heritage Center, which wanted to organize an exhibition dedicated to Christophe Plantin to mark the 500th anniversary of his birth in 2020,” recalls Pierre Assenmaker, professor of Latin language and literature at UNamur and scientific co-director of the book. Together with Valérie Leyh, a professor of German-language literature who also teaches a course on the history of the book, they began to envision a collaborative project centered on this major figure in European printing. But the initiative quickly took on a new dimension. “When we saw the scope of this collection, we realized we had to go beyond a simple exhibition,” emphasizes Valérie Leyh. “That’s where the idea came from to produce a book that would showcase this exceptional collection held at UNamur.” 

The book thus brings together contributions from 18 researchers from UNamur and other institutions in Belgium and the Netherlands. Since the collection had already been the subject of a comprehensive catalog, published with the support of the King Baudouin Foundation, the authors chose a thematic approach: to understand how Christophe Plantin became, in the 16^th century, one of the most influential printers in Europe. “We tried to identify the various factors behind this success,” explains Pierre Assenmaker. “Through his network of humanists, as well as his incredible business acumen, Christophe Plantin knew how to adapt his books to different audiences, varying formats, languages, and illustrations. He already possessed the ability to conceive of multiple versions of the same work based on his readers’ expectations.” 

Studying all 905 works held by the BUMP would have been a Herculean task. The researchers had to make some choices. “We analyzed about fifty works that seemed most revealing to us,” continues Pierre Assenmaker. “Some stand out for their rarity, others for their beauty, or because they particularly well illustrate Plantin’s editorial strategies. Inevitably, any selection involves making sacrifices, and there are still a great many treasures that deserve to be studied.” The researchers were also able to compare several copies of the same edition. “Some books belonged to several collectors. Others have been annotated over the centuries,” adds Valérie Leyh. “These handwritten notes allow us to trace the books’ circulation and understand how they were used or passed down.”

Beyond the texts themselves, researchers have also focused on the book as an object. While today we choose between a large format and a paperback, during the Renaissance, the options were far more numerous. In the ^16th century, books were often sold as unbound quires. The buyer then decided on the binding—which could be more or less luxurious—and could even choose to add certain illustrations. Each copy thus became a unique object. Furthermore, as Valérie Leyh points out, a single text could be published in several languages, with or without illustrations, in order to reach different audiences. This was a particularly modern publishing strategy for the time, demonstrating that printers were thoughtful about how to adapt to their readers’ expectations. 

This research also finds a direct extension in the courses offered at UNamur, particularly in the course “The Book and Digital Culture” taught by Valérie Leyh. Students are encouraged to examine a selection of historical books held at the BUMP in order to study their physical characteristics. This is also a way to put these objects into context with current reading practices and digital uses. 

While this book marks the culmination of several years of work, it also paves the way for new research. In September, Pierre Assenmaker and Valérie Leyh launched, with the support of the Institut Moretus Plantin Public Benefit Foundation, a two-year research project focused on multilingualism and translation in the works of Christophe Plantin. The goal will be to study some 40 to 50 works held at the BUMP in order to better understand how the Antwerp printer made use of the linguistic diversity of his time. “Today, with machine translation tools and artificial intelligence, we sometimes tend to forget the full complexity of translation,” notes Valérie Leyh. “During the Renaissance, translating also meant adapting a work for a new audience. Translators sometimes became co-authors.” 

The project, conducted in collaboration with Asseline Sel, a postdoctoral researcher, aims to better understand Plantin’s editorial strategies through the lens of language. Why were certain works translated? Which readers were they intended for? How could the same text be transformed, shortened, expanded, or illustrated differently depending on the target audience? These are the kinds of questions the researchers will seek to answer by analyzing not only the content of the works but also their physical form, their handwritten annotations, and their history over the centuries. 

Beyond the history of the book, the two researchers also see this as an invitation to better understand our own era. “The 16^th century was a period of profound transformations, marked by political, religious, and economic crises, but also by a remarkable exchange of ideas,” concludes Pierre Assenmaker. “Studying this period reminds us that times of crisis are not incompatible with the development of culture and knowledge. This is undoubtedly one of the most relevant lessons that Christophe Plantin leaves us today.”