Ornamento

Only a few years after starting his Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther became the most published man since the invention of the printing press during the middle of the fifteenth century. Luther wrote tract after tract, which were bought up by a public eager to read more about the unfolding affair, which became Europe’s first mass media event. But Luther’s popularity relied upon his printers in Wittenberg, who quickly published his works and decorated them with beautiful woodcut title page borders to attract readers in a crowded marketplace. When he published his famous German translation of the New Testament in 1522, it was decorated with full-page woodcut illustrations detailing the Apocalypse. Woodcuts, carved wooden blocks inserted on the printing press with type, were a fundamental tool of the early modern printing industry and the subject of this project.

Although the study of printing history has been greatly aided in the twenty-first century by the creation of large, national bibliographies available online, studying illustration remains difficult. There are no comprehensive tools for studying and comparing the usage of woodcuts—for illustrations, title page borders, and ornate initials—during the early printing industry. This study seeks to take advantage of the many digital editions of early modern books available online and use new methods in the digital humanities, such as image recognition and machine learning, to document the rise of such practices. Specifically, this part of the project, funded by a two-year grant from the Irish Research Council, compares the usage of woodcuts during the first century of printing in the Holy Roman Empire (c. 1450-1550). It is part of a larger European wide project with Professor Alexander Wilkinson at University College Dublin. The Protestant Reformation was the coming of age for the printing industry. Investigating the workshop practices of print before and during this tumultuous event will uncover the innovations that helped the industry grow and demonstrate how modern technology continues to shed new light on historical methodologies and research.

The Industry of Evangelism

Printing for the Reformation in Martin Luther’s Wittenberg

When Martin Luther supposedly nailed his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, the small town had only a single printing press. By the end of the century, Wittenberg had published more books than any other city in the Holy Roman Empire. 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 book examines the rise of the Wittenberg printing industry and analyses how it overtook the Empire’s leading print centres. Luther’s controversy—and the publications it produced—attracted printers to Wittenberg who would publish tract after tract. In only a few years, Luther became the most published author since the invention of the printing press. This book 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. They were helped with the assistance of the famous Renaissance artist, Lucas Cranach the Elder, who lived in Wittenberg as court painter to the Elector of Saxony. His woodcut title page borders decorated the covers of Luther’s books and were copied throughout the Empire. Capitalising on the demand for Wittenberg books, many printers falsely printed that their books were from Wittenberg. Such fraud played a major role in the Reformation book trade, as printers in every major print centre made counterfeits of Wittenberg books. However, Reformation pamphlets were not the sole reason for Wittenberg’s success. Such items played only a marginal role in the local industry. It was the great Luther Bibles, spurred by Luther’s emphasis on Bible reading, that allowed Wittenberg’s printers to overcome the odds and become the largest print centre in early modern Germany.

Luther’s Theses

The 500th Anniversary of the Reformation was commemorated in 2017. As part of the many Martin Luther commemorations, I created a temporary exhibition at LuthersTheses.com that featured online pedagogical materials about Luther and his Ninety-Five Theses.