Johann Grüninger

File:Markgröningen Federzeichnung Jakob Gottfried Hegler.jpg

Ink drawing of Markgröningen by Jakob Gottfried

Johannes (Hans) Grüninger (1455–1533) was a German printer whose career spanned from 1482–1533 and produced up to 500 publications. Grüninger was one of the single most prolific printers of Strasbourg, printing up to 80 books a year of various types and genres. While a great deal of his publications were Catholic, he managed to print a great variety of works ranging from humanist to scientific texts.

Grüninger was born as Johannes Reinhart in 1455 in the town of Markgröningen, Württemberg (from which the name "Grüninger" comes). Before establishing himself in Strasbourg he learned about the printing trade in Basel. In 1481 he moved to Strasbourg and a year later bought his print shop. In August 1483, he printed his first book, Petrus Comestor's Historia Scholastica. Some of his notable publications include a German-language Bible, and illustrated editions of Horace's Opera, and Virgil's Aeneid. Grüninger died in 1532 and was succeeded by his sons Wolfgang and Bartholomew (primarily Bartholomew, who was also a printer albeit on a smaller scale than his father). As was common, his sons promptly sold the business to Peter Schöffer (the younger) in 1533 after being unable to maintain past production rates.

Notable Publications

Religious Texts

Grüninger was responsible for printing many Breviaries for dioceses across the Holy Roman Empire, especially in the first decade of his career. In fact, he was one of the chief printers of these breviaries within the Empire. He also printed many missals that went out to various regions in Europe. His largest contribution to the printed religious text is his German family Bible which was the tenth Bible printed in the German language and the first "handy-sized" Bible. Grüninger's Bible was printed in two volumes each containing about 460 leaves and was illustrated with 109 woodcuts. At 28 x 20 cm this Bible was almost half the size of the average printed Bible at the time.

Classics

Horace's Opera (1498)

Leaf from Grüninger's publication of Horace's Opera printed in 1498. This particular leaf is from the last fifteen lines of satire 1.10.

In 1498, Grüninger printed the first illustrated edition of Horace's Opera with commentary by Jakob Locher. This is the only printing of Horace before 1500 to contain commentary. It has been argued that this printing of Horace was intended for pedagogical purposes rather than merely entertainment. Locher was a humanist and stated in an epigram that Horace was not for the consumption of ordinary people, but for the educated. He probably intended this book to be for those either learning Latin and Horace or already learned in these topics which could explain this text's unique use of marginal commentaries which are in keeping with medieval pedagogical tradition (except that they seem to provide more background information on the poetry than directions on how to morally read the text). In between the lines of the text itself can be seen explanatory words that clarify abbreviations and names thus helping the reader follow along while at the same time learning some Latin conventions. Given that there seem to be a decent number of surviving copies, this (and Grüninger's prints of Comidiae by Terence (1496) and Vergil's Aeneid (1502)) book seems to have been a success when released.

Virgil's Aenied (1502)

File:Master of the Aeneid Legend - Aeneas Entreats Anchises to Flee from Troy - Walters 4458.jpg

Woodcut from Brant's Aeneid printed by Grüninger in September 1502

Grüninger's 1502 publication of the Aeneid was edited by Sebastian Brant, who also wrote the well known Ship of Fools in 1494. The woodcuts in the Aeneid are notable in that they depict characters and architecture in contemporary clothing and style.

External links

• Johannes Grüninger from Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek
• Johann Grüninger by François Ritter from Deutsche Biography
• "Grüninger" from GW. Datenbank