Johannes Fust

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Johann Fust

Johannes Fust (* around 1400 in Mainz ; † October 30,  1466 in Paris ) was a trained "advocate" (lawyer) and later a printer and publisher . He is considered to be the most important promoter of book printing with movable metal letters . Evidence about him appears in connection with Johannes Gutenberg and Peter Schöffer in the earliest incunable period .

Life

His life can only be highlighted due to the scarce sources. He came from a wealthy family that was originally based in Frankfurt am Main . His father Nicolaus Fust was a judge from 1438 to 1441 and a council member in Mainz from 1444. His brother Jacob Fust was mayor of Mainz. All three belonged to the goldsmith's guild and acted as entrepreneurs. Johannes Fust also worked as an “advocate” and was listed as a citizen of Mainz. Together with his wife Margarete, he had two children, Christine and Johannes. Around 1449 he invested money in Gutenberg's printing workshop and promoted the publication of the Gutenberg Bible . After the partnership ended around 1455, Fust managed another printing workshop with the help of Schöffer. He died on a sales trip in Paris in 1466, probably of the plague .

There is no clear evidence of Fust's practical work in the respective printing workshops. It is assumed that he acted as owner and financier, while Gutenberg and Schöffer took over the technical management.

Fust and Gutenberg

The collaboration between Fust and Gutenberg lasted from around 1448 to 1455. The so-called Helmaspergerische notarial instrument provides information about the business relationship between the two and at the same time marks its end. The notarial instrument is a kind of summary of the dispute between Fust and Gutenberg before a Mainz city court. It was signed and dated November 6, 1455 by the notary Ulrich Helmasperger . The notary briefly summarized the previous process. He mainly focused on money issues. The note shows that Fust Gutenberg gave a loan of 800 guilders. He later topped up this amount by a further 800 guilders in order to complete the “Werck der Bucher” , probably the B42. Since Gutenberg did not pay the contractually stipulated interest (six percent), Fust, who had borrowed the money himself and had to meet interest demands, filed a lawsuit and demanded the entire debt repayment (2020 guilders). He brought the lawsuit on the grounds that Gutenberg had embezzled the money and used it for other activities. Gutenberg countered this by stating that the first payment was intended and used to set up a workshop. Fust had received this as a security deposit. Fust should have waived the payment of the interest in an oral agreement . In addition, Gutenberg viewed the second payment, which Fust made in annual installments, not as a loan, but as a stake in the company. The summary of the judgment shows that on the one hand the court considered Fust's credit claim to be justified, on the other hand it also regarded the annual payments as a business contribution. Gutenberg should explain the income and expenses of the joint work ( “work for both” ). This should then result in the amount of the repayment in addition to the first 800 guilders borrowed. An oath was supposed to assert Fust's interest claims. He then swore before witnesses that he had taken out a loan of 1,550 guilders, of which he in turn lent Gutenberg part and invested the other in the community work. The further course of the proceedings is not recorded. According to the research, Gutenberg gave parts of the workshop and the Bible edition to Fust in addition to a cash payment and probably turned to new business partners. After the legal dispute in 1455, in which both business partners separated, Fust ran the printing company with his later son-in-law Peter Schöffer .

Fust and Schöffer

Printer's brand Schöffer & Fust

In some sources Schöffer is named as a servant, servant or foster son of Fust. This leads to the assumption that Schöffer was in close contact with the Fust family. It was also probably Fust who introduced Peter Schöffer to the Gutenberg printing workshop around 1452. From around 1455 Fust and Schöffer continued to run the print shop together.
After Johannes Fust's death, Schöffer married his daughter and received her inheritance from the workshop. Fust's son Johannes renounced his share of the paternal inheritance in 1476 and Schöffer took over the company completely.
Fust and Schöffer were the first printers to equip their works with a printer's stamp and imprint. For this reason, the following prints, in addition to numerous single-sheet prints, can be assigned to this dispenser :

  • Psalterium Moguntium (1457)
  • Rationale Divinorum Officiorum of Bishop Durand (1459)
  • Constitutiones Clementis V. Papae cum apparatus Johannis Andreae (1460)
  • A 48-line Bible edition , B 48, (1462)
  • Liber sextus decretalium Domini Bonifacii Papae VIII cum glossa (1465)
  • MT Ciceronis De Officiis Libri III (1465/66)
  • Grammatica rhythmica (1466)

See also

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Fust, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lawyer and printer
DATE OF BIRTH around 1400
PLACE OF BIRTH Mainz
DATE OF DEATH 1466
Place of death Paris