The Industry of Evangelism

Printing for the Reformation in Martin Luther’s Wittenberg

Series: 

Author:
Drew B. Thomas
Of the leading print centres in early modern Europe, Wittenberg was the only one that was not a major centre of trade, politics, or culture. This monograph examines the rise of the Wittenberg printing industry and analyses how it overtook the Empire’s leading print centres. It investigates the workshops of the four leading printers in Wittenberg during Luther’s lifetime: Nickel Schirlentz, Josef Klug, Hans Lufft, and Georg Rhau. Together, these printers conquered the German print world.
Copyright Year:
2022
E-Book (PDF)
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-46242-7
Publication:
25 Oct 2021
Hardback
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-46240-3
Publication:
28 Jan 2022
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Drew B. Thomas, Ph.D. (2018, University of St. Andrews) is a Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University College Dublin.
"The Industry of Evangelism is an important acquisition for research and theological libraries serving scholars who are interested in studying Martin Luther and the printing industry during the Reformation in the city of Wittenberg, Germany." - Chris Cullnane II, Belhaven University, in: Libraries: Culture, History, and Society, Vol. 8, No. 1 (2024), pp. 79–81
"Multiple images, charts, graphs, and tables punctuate this text, allowing readers to engage with the formidable research through comparison [...]. The book is definitive regarding early Reformation printing in Wittenberg, and it is a major contribution to the study of early modern European print culture that cannot be overlooked." - Sabrina Alcorn Baron, University of Maryland, in: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 77, No. 3 (Fall 2024), pp. 1012–1014
Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables

Introduction
 1 Print and the Reformation
 2 Wittenberg
 3 Project Parameters
 4 Sources & Methodology

1 The Beginnings of the Reformation Print Industry
 1 Rhau-Grunenberg’s Monopoly
 2 Major Players Emerge
 3 Improving the Quality of Wittenberg Print
 4 Printing the September Testament

2 The Title Page Borders of Lucas Cranach
 1 The First Reformation Title Page Borders
 2 Decorating Luther’s Message
 3 Border Usage among Wittenberg’s Printers
 4 Copying Cranach’s Borders
 5 Developing a Brand

3 Fraud in the Reformation Book Trade
 1 A History of False Publication Information
 2 Identifying Counterfeits
 3 Types of Counterfeits
 4 Imitating Typefaces
 5 The Prevalence of Counterfeits and Wittenberg’s Response
 6 Wittenberg’s Response
 7 Conclusion

4 The Second Generation of Reformation Printers
 1 Wittenberg’s Leading Printers
 2 Local Competition among Wittenberg’s Printers
 3 Analysing Volumes of Production Based on Sheets
 4 Conclusion

6 Bibles and Broadsheets
 1 Hans Lufft, der Bibeldrucker
 2 Publishers and Privileges
 3 Official Print: Reconstructing Wittenberg’s Lost History

Conclusion

Appendix 1: A Catalogue of Wittenberg Counterfeits

Appendix 2: USTC – VD16 Concordance
Bibliography
Index
All interested in early-modern European history, the history of the book, and the role of the Reformation in the development of the printing industry.
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Publisher:
Brill
Language:
English
Pages:
xvi, 330 pp.: 165 ills., 7 tables
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004462427

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