Gerard Leeu

Gerard Leeu (also Gheraert or Geeraert Leeu; * 1445-1450 in Gouda, † 1492 in Antwerp) was one of the most successful and influential Dutch printers of incunabula.

Life and work

His first book, a liturgical work, printed Leeu 1477 in Gouda, where he held a Offizin and by the year 1484 issued a total of 69 prints. In 1484 he moved his workshop to Antwerp, where he died in 1492 due to a stab wound.

Leeu printed vernacular and Latin works; the latter he gave in part as Dutch translations out. Prints for the English market are demonstrated. He knew his books throughout with woodcut illustrations. His prints were driven away especially after 1480 over the country's borders and in northern Europe reprinted in many places, including their illustrations.

Print Works (selection)

  • Dialogus creaturarum optime moralizatus (1480/1481, Gouda, 1486/1491, Antwerp)
  • History van Reynaert the vos ( 1479, Gouda, 1487/1490, Antwerp)
  • Morticellarium aureum. Gerard Leeu, Antwerp 1488 ( Digitized edition of the University and State Library Dusseldorf )
Printer's mark Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke Integrated Authority File
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