1569 -1572 ·
Christopher Plantin's Biblia regia

DURING THE TUMULTUOUS 1560s the Officina Plantiniana in Antwerp was at the height of its expansion. As a businessman, Plantin was forced by the rapid succession of events and the ever-changing situation to keep on good terms with the Church. The celebrated printer, naturally aware of the machinations of the 'Calvinist' press in the 'diaspora' - especially after the iconoclastic riots and the clampdown on religious freedom - was apparently attempting to make a kind of public confession of his Catholicism in order to raise his stock with the Spanish authorities. He had after all attempted rather conspicuously to obtain permission from the Spanish court to publish a polyglot Bible. His inspiration had been the first edition in this genre, a six-volume edition of 1514 - I517 at Alcalà de Henares, known as the Biblia complutensis. He eventually obtained permission: Philip II provided a grant of 21,000 florins but demanded that the project be placed under the scholastic guidance of the famous Spanish theologian Benito Arias Montano. In fact the theologian revealed a remarkable broadness of mind, which immediately endeared him to Plantin and formed the basis for a friendship and cooperation that were to last their whole lives. The Spaniard was soon at home among Antwerp's scholars and humanists, who were not unsympathetic to the teachings of Hendrik Niclaes and his Huys der liefde ('Family of Love').

Arias Montano found assistance in his task from a group of scholars, including Plantin's son-in-law Francis Raphelengius, who later became a printer at Leiden, the brothers Guy and Nicolas Le Fèvre de la Boderie of Paris, proofreaders Cornelis Kiliaan and Bernard Sellius and the orientalist Andreas Masius of South Brabant. Their task was to ensure the quality of the editions: for the Old Testament (Parts I-IV), the Hebrew text with Latin translation (Vulgate), the Greek text of the Septuagint and its Latin translation, the paraphrase in Aramaic and its Latin translation; for the New Testament (Part V), the Syriac text and its Latin translation, the Greek text and a Latin translation (Vulgate), the Hebrew translation of the Syriac text. Parts VI to VIII, the so-called Apparatus, contain, some as autonomous sections, the notes, comments and registers, vocabularies and grammars and a series of treatises on biblical subjects. Remarkably, there are two editions, or partially at least: part of VI and VIII are printed in two issues. Was Plantin in financial trouble? Or did he mean to restrict the edition for fear of not obtaining papal consent after all?
Arias Montano and Plantin both saw the polyglot Bible as a prestige project. It was produced in a tempo that seems incredible today. The typesetting began in 1569 and the edition was completed in 1572, a print run of 1200 copies on paper from various sources and of mixed quality; 13 copies on parchment were for the Spanish king. Plantin chose a large folio format. He also had to increase his supply of type: he bought Hebrew punches from Cornelis van Bomberghen in Cologne and Guillaume Le Bé in Paris; and Greek and Syriac from Robert Granjon. The rich typographical decoration is also remarkable. Moreover, he employed his best artists to produce copper engravings for the title prints whose symbolism and meaning he explained himself. Thus, the Bible was intended to promote the unio christiana (main title-page), while the pietas regia (second frontispiece in Part I) was intended to be in praise of Philip II. With its eight splendid folios it was an impressive edition, a monument of typography and a milestone in biblical scholarship. The edition is known both as the Biblia regia and the Biblia polyglotta: a multilingual Bible edition produced under royal license.

ELLY COCKX-INDESTEGE

B. Rekers, Benito Arias Montano 1527 - 1598. Studie over een groep spiritualistische humanisten in Spanje en de Nederlanden op grond van hun briefwisseling (Groningen 1961).
Leon Voet, The Golden Compasses: a History and Evaluation of the Printing and Publishing Activities of the Officina Plantiniana at Antwerp (Amsterdam 1969) (2vols).
Lotte Hellinga-Querido, De Koningsbijbel van de Prins in de Stadsbibliotheek te Haarlem. Examination Report (Haarlem/ Amsterdam 1971).
Leon Voet, 'De Antwerpse Polyglot Bijbel', Noordgouw 13(1973) p. 33 - 57.
L. Voet & J. Grisolle, The Plantin Press (1555 - 1589). A Bibliography of the Works Printed and Published by Christopher Plantin at Antwerp and Leiden I (Amsterdam 1980) p. 280 - 315 (extensive bibliography on p. 313).
Paul Valkema Blouw ,'Was Plantin a Member of the Family of Love? Notes on his Dealings with Hendrik Niclaes', Quærendo. Quarterly journal from the Low Countries Devoted to Manuscripts and Printed Books 23 (1983) p. 3 - 23.