Leon Voet – The Golden Compasses. A History and Evaluation of the Printing … Officina Plantiniana – 1969-1972

2 volumes. 24.5 × 17 cm. xxii, 499; XXI, 632 pp. Illustrated. Original cloth with dust jackets. Dust jacket of volume one slightly faded and discoloured on the spine; otherwise in very good condition.At its peak, the Officina Plantiniana in Antwerp was the largest and most productive printing house in Europe. Christophe Plantin's operation churned out Bibles, atlases, and scholarly texts on a scale that left every other printer on the continent quietly envious. Understanding exactly how it worked is what Leon Voet spent his career on, and this two-volume set is the result. What sets it apart from a straight history is the depth of technical detail: the finances, the staff, the workflow, the business relationships. The kind of book that answers questions you didn't know you had about sixteenth-century printing. The standard work on the Plantinian press. Essential for book historians, collectors, and dealers (which, if you've read this far, almost certainly means you).