Sébastien Gryphe
Encyclopedia
Sebastian Gryphius
Sebastian Gryphius ' onMouseout='HidePop("76815")' href="/topics/Reutlingen">Reutlingen
, Germany
- 1556 in Lyon
, France
) was a German
bookseller-printer
and humanist
.
. Around 1520 he came to Lyon
and settled there, on behalf of a Venetian firm of booksellers.
Initially Gryphius mostly published works on law and administration, in Gothic script
. He then moved to Latin classics. He also translated classical Greek authors into Latin. He published his contemporaries Erasmus, Guillaume Budé
and Poliziano
.
In 1536 he went into business with Hugues de la Porte, who financed him in an independent venture. He founded l'Atelier du Griffon, with a griffin
mark. Around this time he introduced the Italic type
of Aldus Manutius
.
In the 1540s he was the highly-reputed 'Prince of the Lyon book trade'. He promoted the local humanist culture, and his books were prized for their clean lay-out and accuracy. The nineteenth-century scholar Henri Baudrier spoke of the Atelier du Griffon as a « société angélique pour les libres-penseurs ».
His friends included André Alciat
, Étienne Dolet
, Guillaume Scève and Barthélémy Aneau
, and they wrote highly of his work, even helping out in practical printing tasks. Their linguistic input was also of benefit to the works printed. Gryphius printed suspect texts and even sheltered authors in trouble for heretical writing. Étienne Dolet, an academic and satirical poet, came fresh from jail in Toulouse
, and was burned as a heretic
in 1546.
From 1540, François Rabelais
came to Gryphius to publish his translations of Hippocrates
, Galen
and Giovanni Mainardi.
from 1532. Another brother, Johann (Jean), remained in Venice, also as a printer.
Typographical material at Flickr by History of the Book, Amsterdam
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bookhistorian/sets/72157623165937563/
Sebastian Gryphius ' onMouseout='HidePop("76815")' href="/topics/Reutlingen">Reutlingen
Reutlingen
Reutlingen is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of April 2008, it has a population of 109,828....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
- 1556 in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) was a German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
bookseller-printer
Printer (publisher)
In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. With the invention of the moveable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, printing—and printers—proliferated throughout Europe.Today, printers are found...
and humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
.
Biography
He was the son of Michael Greyff (Greif, Gryff, Gryph), and learned from him the new craft of printing, in Germany and then in VeniceVenice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. Around 1520 he came to Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
and settled there, on behalf of a Venetian firm of booksellers.
Initially Gryphius mostly published works on law and administration, in Gothic script
Gothic script
Gothic script may refer to:* Blackletter* Gothic alphabet* Schwabacher...
. He then moved to Latin classics. He also translated classical Greek authors into Latin. He published his contemporaries Erasmus, Guillaume Budé
Guillaume Budé
Guillaume Budé was a French scholar.-Life:Budé was born in Paris. He went to the University of Orléans to study law, but for several years, being possessed of ample means, he led an idle and dissipated life...
and Poliziano
Poliziano
Angelo Ambrogini, commonly known by his nickname, anglicized as Politian, Italian Poliziano, Latin Politianus was an Italian Renaissance classical scholar and poet, one of the revivers of Humanist Latin...
.
In 1536 he went into business with Hugues de la Porte, who financed him in an independent venture. He founded l'Atelier du Griffon, with a griffin
Griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
mark. Around this time he introduced the Italic type
Italic type
In typography, italic type is a cursive typeface based on a stylized form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, such typefaces often slant slightly to the right. Different glyph shapes from roman type are also usually used—another influence from calligraphy...
of Aldus Manutius
Aldus Manutius
Aldus Pius Manutius , the Latinised name of Aldo Manuzio —sometimes called Aldus Manutius, the Elder to distinguish him from his grandson, Aldus Manutius, the Younger—was an Italian humanist who became a printer and publisher when he founded the Aldine Press at Venice.His publishing legacy includes...
.
In the 1540s he was the highly-reputed 'Prince of the Lyon book trade'. He promoted the local humanist culture, and his books were prized for their clean lay-out and accuracy. The nineteenth-century scholar Henri Baudrier spoke of the Atelier du Griffon as a « société angélique pour les libres-penseurs ».
His friends included André Alciat
Andrea Alciato
Andrea Alciato , commonly known as Alciati , was an Italian jurist and writer. He is regarded as the founder of the French school of legal humanists.-Biography:...
, Étienne Dolet
Étienne Dolet
Étienne Dolet was a French scholar, translator and printer.-Early life:He was born in Orléans. A doubtful tradition makes him the illegitimate son of Francis I; but it is evident that he was at least connected with some family of rank and wealth.From Orléans he was taken to Paris about 1521, and...
, Guillaume Scève and Barthélémy Aneau
Barthélémy Aneau
Barthélémy Aneau was a French poet and humanist. He is known for his novel Alector, ou le Coq, and his work on emblems.He born in Bourges. He taught rhetoric, and became principal of the Collège de la Trinité in Lyon, from 1542....
, and they wrote highly of his work, even helping out in practical printing tasks. Their linguistic input was also of benefit to the works printed. Gryphius printed suspect texts and even sheltered authors in trouble for heretical writing. Étienne Dolet, an academic and satirical poet, came fresh from jail in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, and was burned as a heretic
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
in 1546.
From 1540, François Rabelais
François Rabelais
François Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...
came to Gryphius to publish his translations of Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Cos or Hippokrates of Kos was an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles , and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine...
, Galen
Galen
Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus , better known as Galen of Pergamon , was a prominent Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher...
and Giovanni Mainardi.
Family
His brother Franz (François) was a printer in the rue des Carmes in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
from 1532. Another brother, Johann (Jean), remained in Venice, also as a printer.
Legacy
- There is a street named after him in la Guillotière, in the seventh arrondissementArrondissementArrondissement is any of various administrative divisions of France, certain other Francophone countries, and the Netherlands.-France:The 101 French departments are divided into 342 arrondissements, which may be translated into English as districts. The capital of an arrondissement is called a...
of Lyon. - The journal of the Bibliothèque de Lyon is called Gryphe.
External links
- Henri Louis & Jules Baudrier. Bibliographie Lyonnaise. (Lyon: Librairie ancienne d'Auguste Brun, 1895-1921) [(F) Z145.L9 B3].
- http://www.princeton.edu/~ferguson/h-ge-il.html
- 450th anniversary of his death in 2006 : Quid novi? Sébastien Gryphe à l'occasion du 450e anniversaire de sa mort"
Typographical material at Flickr by History of the Book, Amsterdam
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bookhistorian/sets/72157623165937563/