First published: 14/07/05.

Els Slots 4.0

Plantin-Moretus Museum

Plantin-Moretus Museum (Inscribed)

Plantin-Moretus Museum by Els Slots

This museum is located in a patrician's house on a quiet square in the center of Antwerp. It really shouldn't be missed by anybody interested in history (or WHS). There's much more to see and tell than can be said on this one page.

The whole museum is excellent. I spent about two hours there doing the rounds with an audioguide. Its special attractions are threefold: a great building with period furniture, the introduction to the 16th and 17th-century printing business and the priceless collection of books and prints. The Plantin-Moretus family was very wealthy and collected many original pieces (like a Gutenberg Bible).

There are about 30 rooms you can enter, ranging from libraries to the family bedroom. The craftsmanship of the printing industry is detailed in a video. After that, you can amaze yourself at the collection of materials and instruments that is still there and looks like it could be working again any minute. They were printing in French, Greek, Latin, Hebrew and even Ethiopian. Mistakes were spotted by editors and then corrected before the final prints were made.

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