Albrecht Kunne

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Albrecht Kunne (around 1435 in Duderstadt ; † unknown) was a German incunabula printer . He completed his apprenticeship with Johannes Gutenberg . His place of activity was Memmingen in Upper Swabia .

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Page from Jakob Stoppel's Geographielexikon, 1519

Little is known about his life. His place of birth was Duderstadt near Göttingen . He gained his first professional experience in Trento . In 1480 he set up his printing press in Memmingen , presumably on Ulmer Strasse by the Notzentor. This makes him the earliest printer in Central Swabia and Allgäu . He made the lead letters for his prints himself. He made several prints and books with his hand-operated printing press. For example, he published important writings for everyday life, such as 1494 Instruction and Order Against Pestilence . But his most famous work, the repertory in formam alphabeticam (Geografielexikon) by Jacob Stoppel, printed in 1519 , in which the word America was first mentioned in a book to denote the new continent, is also among his prints. But throughout his life he also had to deal with the risks of a printer. In 1509 he even had to sell a press and letters to the Benedictine Abbey of Ottobeuren, which enabled it to open its own printing house. Some of his prints also contain woodcuts, including the first Renaissance woodcut in Germany, created in 1486, and the first author's portrait printed in a book. From 1520 the trace of the 85-year-old printer was lost. It is not known where he died. However, it can be assumed that he died in Memmingen, where he worked.

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Commons : Albrecht Kunne  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Kunne, Albrecht
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German printer of the Middle Ages
DATE OF BIRTH around 1435
PLACE OF BIRTH Duderstadt
DATE OF DEATH after 1520