Amerbach, John

, a learned printer of the fifteenth century, was born at Rutlingen, in Suabia, and settled at Basil. He was the first who made use of the round type, instead of the Italic and Gothic. In 1506, he published the first edition of the works of St. Augustine, corrected by himself, with a type known long by the name of the St. Augustine type. He began also the works of St. Jerome; but his death, which took place in 1515, prevented his finishing them, and he left them to the care of his sons, by whom they were published. All his editions are valued for their accuracy. Boniface, his eldest son, who died in 1562, was for thirty years law professor at Basil, five times rector of the university, and went through the different offices of magistracy with the reputation of a man of great integrity. In 1659, was printed at Basil, 4to, the “Bibliotheca Amerbachiana,” a scarce work, which throws considerable light on the history of printing, and mentions many early editions omitted in our largest catalogues. Erasmus and Boniface Amerbach contributed to this Bibliotheca. Boniface had a son Basil, also a man of learning, syndic of the city, and rector of the university. He contributed much to the cabinet of pictures, and medals, and to the library which his father had founded. He founded likewise some charitable establishments, and a new professorship in the university, called the Amerbachian. 2

2

Moreri. Biog. Universelle, —Saxii Onomasticon.