- Plantin-Moretus Museum
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Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Complex * UNESCO World Heritage Site
Country Belgium Type Cultural Criteria ii, iii, iv, vi Reference 1185 Region ** Europe and North America Inscription history Inscription 2005 (29th Session) * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List
** Region as classified by UNESCOThe Plantin-Moretus Museum is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium honouring the famous printers Christoffel Plantijn and Jan Moretus. It is located in their former residence and printing establishment, Plantin Press, at the Friday Market.
Contents
History
The printing company was founded in the 16th century by Christoffel Plantijn. After his death it was owned by his son-in-law Jan Moretus.
In 1876 Edward Moretus sold the company to the city of Antwerp. One year later the public could visit the living areas and the printing presses. In 2002 the museum was nominated as UNESCO World Heritage Site and in 2005 it was inscribed onto the World Heritage list.
The Plantin-Moretus Museum possesses an exceptional collection of typographical material. Not only does it house the two oldest surviving printing presses in the world and complete sets of dies and matrices, it also has an extensive library, a richly decorated interior and the entire archives of the Plantin business, which were inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme Register in 2001 in recognition of their historical significance. [1]
Collection
- a Bible in five languages: Biblia Polyglotta (1568-1573)
- Thesaurus Teutoniae Linguae
- a geographical book: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum made by Abraham Ortelius
- a book describing herbs: Cruydeboeck made by Rembert Dodoens
- an anatomical book made by Andreas Vesalius and Joannes Valverde
- a book about decimal numbers from Simon Stevin
- a 36 line Gutenberg Bible
- paintings and drawings by Peter Paul Rubens
- the study of humanist Justus Lipsius and many of his works[2]
References
- ^ "Business Archives of the Officina Plantiniana". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. 2008-05-15. http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=22955&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html. Retrieved 2009-12-11.
- ^ "The Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp, Antwerpen". http://www.trabel.com/antwerp-plantin.htm.
See also
External links
- Museum Plantin-Moretus
- Pictures from the museum
- De Vinne, Theodore Low (1888). "A printer's paradise, the Plantin-Moretus Museum at Antwerp". De Vinne Press via Internet Archive. http://www.archive.org/details/printersparadise00devirich. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
World Heritage Sites in Belgium Brussels 
Flanders Belfries of Belgium and France1 · Bruges (historic centre) · Flemish Béguinages · Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum ComplexWallonia Belfries of Belgium and France1 · Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and their Environs, La Louvière and Le Rœulx, Hainault · Neolithic flint mines at Spiennes · Notre-Dame Cathedral of Tournai1 Shared locally with other regions and with FranceCategories:- World Heritage Sites in Belgium
- Museums in Antwerp
- Printing
- Biographical museums in Belgium
- Houses in Belgium
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