, a learned printer of the fifteenth century, was born at Rutlingen,
, 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.