The Printer: Johannes Oporinus

Johannes Oporinus (1507-1568) was a prominent Renaissance printer, but not the best printer of his day by any means. There were others in Basel alone who surpassed his skill in design and typography (Fisch, 1943b), but there are several reasons why Vesalius would select Oporinus above other more talented printers to print the Fabrica.

Perhaps most importantly, Oporinus was a Humanist scholar. He had a classical education and was an expert in Greek, Latin and Hebrew, all three of which Velsalius used in the Fabrica. Oporinus had actually taught Latin and Greek at the University of Basel, rising through the ranks to become dean of the liberal arts college until a change in the education requirements for professors forced him to decide between earning his doctorate or pursuing another profession. He chose to leave academia to embark on a career in publishing. Because of his ties to academia though, Oporinus became the printer of choice for scholars, partly because he had a reputation for careful proofing of the works he printed, reviewing each work personally and with scholarly attention (Fisch, 1943b), and partly because he used his ties to the academic world to network tirelessly. As Max Fisch (1943b) writes, the secret to his success was due in large part to:

his many-sided connections in the learned world, which led even foreign scholars to entrust their work to him rather than to printers nearer home; and the assiduity with which he encouraged young scholars to write, assisted them in their work, kept himself informed of their progress, and knocked now at this door and now at that where he knew a completed manuscript lay in a desk. (p. 247)

Vesalius belonged to this network of scholars with whom Oporinus had ties. Oporinus had worked on two of Vesalius's previous publications. He also had some medical training. He had briefly considered becoming a physician but had found the life did not suit him. His knowledge of medicine further appealed to Vesalius.

In short, Vesalius trusted Oporinus. He knew that Oporinus, more so than other printers, would understand the significance of the Fabrica and accord it the appropriate care and attention.

Oporinus's Printer's Device


Interestingly, it was actually Vesalius who suggested the remarkable printer's device that Oporinus used in the Fabrica (Fisch, 1943b), and which he would continue to use in one form or another throughout his printing career. The device depicts Arion, an ancient Greek poet and musician, riding a dolphin and playing a lyre. The story goes that Arion was sailing home to Corinth after winning a musical competition when he was beset by sailors who wanted to steal his winnings. The corrupt sailors offered Arion the choice of suicide with a proper burial on land or being thrown into the sea. To buy time, Arion asked to sing a final song. He played a song to the god Apollo and its beauty attracted dolphins, animals sacred to Apollo. Arion threw himself into the sea and was carried to shore by one of the dolphins.

A dolphin had figured in the printer's device of a well-known printer in Venice, Aldus Manutius of the Aldine Press. Manutius had been the first great printer of the classics. Fisch (1943b) suggests that Vesalius recommended the dolphin for Oporinus as a sign that the mantel of great publishing had passed from Venice to Basel and that Oporinus would prove the Manutius for the new generation of Humanist scholars.

On the device are Sibyl's words to Aeneas before his descent into Hades: invia virtuti nulla est via, valor knows no obstacle. Oporinus, whose private life was troubled and whose press was always in financial difficulties, must have clung to those words as a personal motto, finding the strength in them and in the story of Arion's rescue from a sea of troubles, to continue the difficult work of printing the finest minds of his generation.

The image of Oporinus is an engraving by Theodor de Bry (1528-1598) from Bibliotheca chalcographica di Jean-Jacques Boissard - 1669.