Catalogue of the Plantin-Moretus Museum / by Max Rooses ; completed by Maurice Sabbe.

  • Rooses, Max, 1839-1914.
Date:
[1924]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Catalogue of the Plantin-Moretus Museum / by Max Rooses ; completed by Maurice Sabbe. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    271. Wed. Christophe van Remunde. Extrackt ofte copie getrocken wt den brieve van den Viceroy de Cecille, gesonden aen die K. M. den XXIX dach Jnnij MD en de XLIIII. 1544. i6mo. On the right of the way out there is a portrait of the Doge of Venice, Francois Donato, a wood engraving by Jan Molijns (Antwerp 1554). Leaving this room by the bedroom and the small drawing-room, a staircase leads to the second floor where the visitor finds : XXXII and XXXIII. The Type Foundry. In former times printing types were made by the following procedure : According to a model drawn by clever artists, the character was first cut out in steel stamps (room XXXII) ; with those stamps impresses were made of from 1 to 2 millimeters deep, in small copper blocks, called matrices, (room XXXIII). These matrices were then enclosed in moulds (room XXXIII), lined with iron, which could be adjusted so that an oblong and square space was left free over the impress of the matrice. It is into that space that the molten lead was poured by means of spoons. When cold, the moulds are opened and the small leaden bar with the character in relief is taken out. For each kind of letter, about 90 matrices were required, 26 capitals, 26 small letters, letters with accents, digits from o to 9, ligatures (two or