The record-union., 1897-12-07

gan To make his mark. But hupehS
| loomed up just in time to be the friend
| and coadjutor of Son-in-L Law Moretus.
| They did not need to borrow money
from one another; it was one OF the rare
cases of art being supplied With plen-
ty of cash If Moretus lived in pal
ace, so did Rubens; yet, what they
| accomplished shows that they must
| both have worked like Turks. And
| such work they did! Rubens' work
! everybody knows; AS for Moretus, his
| work was as grand in its way as the
artists. 1t was almost perfection, and
| all done on those old wooden mana
| presses. There are not a dozen print
| ing concerns in the world at this day
| that can do as good work. The work
of Rubens / nave no technical knoWl-
edge of; the work of Moretus l have
and I salute him as one Of the best
| printers that ever lived.
| The Musee Plantin- Moretus, as they
call it, is reached by going UP a mar
row back street, which leads into a
| wider one, and on a corner of the
| wider one which is only broad
| building, showing hight of two tall
| stories at the front, plain, but far
| handsomer and more stately than the
other buildings of equal age that sur
| round it. Like most of the dwelling
| houses in Antwerp, it is built of rough
| stone and plastered on the outside;
| and Antwerp masons have the art of
| making their plaster look exactly like
| large cut stones. The renewal of this
| plaStering every century or two keeps
| the buildings looking fresh and smooth,
| and, although this is the house that
has held the Plantin- Moretus printing
| office since 1879, it shows hardly any
| signs of age
| The entrance is into a large and
| lofty hail. thence into a reception
room then dining room, evidently.
The difficulty is felt from the first
moment of distinguishing what was
! dwelling house from what was print
! ing office. There are the same luxur-
| ious appointments in the working
| rooms as in the living rooms-walls
| hung with Flemish tapestry or stamp
| ed leather, furniture of oak or darker
woods, hand carved out of almost solid
| blocks; tables ten feet long, plated with
| tortoise shell; portraits and landscapes
| by RUbens, Van Dyck and host of
other famous Flemish artists.
III TIE DIS Qll1LS-IOOIi d lOlIS StciSS
case has been set up, in which are
| specimens Of the work done-largely
Bibles and prayer books and mass
| books In it's first century the office
| made such reputation for fine work
! that Philip II. of Spain gave it a mo-
nopoly OF printing all the prayer books
| and mass books used n the Spanish
dominioIs, and this privilege was con-
| tinued until 1S00-a hundred and fifty
! years. / cannot help noticing on my
own account that it was while Rubens
was a great favOrite at the Spanish
| Court, and at the same time a great
| friend of Moretus, that Moretus got
| this splendid monopoly. There may
| have been wire pulling, possibly, even
/ in those honest old burgher days. In
| the glass case are hundreds of books
| printed by the firm, every one as
white in the paper and as black in the
/ ink now as when fresh from the press.
| There are also a large number of draw
! ings, title pages and vignettes by Ru-
/ bens, and in another part of the build
ing are his receipts for pay for draw
| ings made for the engravers. He was
! one Of the earliest and greatest of the
| illustrators"
| The building is in the form of a
| square, with a large courtyard in the
| center, and in the court is a huge
| vine that has been growing since the
| days Of Christopher Plantin. In one
part Of the ground floor are the sale
rooms, with a separate entrance from
/ the street, and back of them the pri-
vate Offices, with the old ledgers and
| daybooks still there Many of these
| rooms are paneled with oak and every
room is foored with it.
| MODEL WORK ROOMS FOR PRINT
ERS.
But it is the printing office that is
| the grand sight. Here is the proof
readers room first, with old proofs
! scattered about, apparently just as it
was left. There are stalls for five or
! six readers, and on the wall is a tab
/ let bearing the names of the principal
readers at different periods. Next is
| the proprietor's private Office, with it's
! gilt leather hangings; and adjoining
| the room that Justus Lipsius used to
! occupy when business took him to his
| publishers. No doubt Rubens, Moretus
and Lipsius spent some rare evenings
| in these two rooms, for they could not
/ have been always at work
Here is what they call the type room
where the cases of type are stored in
racks. Not in racks as high as a man S
| shoulders, as we do it now. so that ev-
cry case is within reach, but in racks
reaching from floor to ceiling. To reach
| the high cases, the printer must climb
a ladder; ard to get at the lower ones
he must stoop to the floor But no
! 81 in, u; -
| ply storeroom for cases of type.
Hele is the composing room next.
/ Though it is more than three CEN
turies old. it looks very much like the
| country composing room Of the pres
/ ent day. with its heavy wooden frames
with the slanting cases on top. Here
| is the type still lying in the eases, and
every case covered with large sheet
| of glass to keep it clean. 1 get one
of the glasses removed without trouble.
| for my guide is enthusiastic over his
| treasures, and when he sees that / un-
derstand and appreciate them he does
| everything for me. The cases are laid
| out almost exactly as they are at pres
ent, except that the lower case box
| and the space box are both smaller
than ours. There are other trifiing diff
I erences, but nothing that would pre-
vent a modern compositor from using
| the cases. l picked up some of the
| type and examined ii. 1t was as well
made, with the crude machinery then
used, as any we have at present. And
| it was In perfect order. Not a sign
| of wear, and each letter as clean as if
it had just been polished. The COM
posing sticks We're clumsy affairs COM
| pared with the light modern ones.