Ulrich Zell

Augustinus de vita christiana , printed by Ulrich Zell in Cologne 1467. Explicit (facsimile, 1840)

Ulrich Zell (* probably in Hanau ; † probably shortly after August 31, 1507 ) was the first book printer in Cologne .

Life

Ulrich Zell came from Hanau, his date of birth is unknown. In all probability, as the similarity of the types of printing suggests, he learned to print in Mainz from Peter Schöffer and Johannes Fust . He probably left Mainz, like many others, in 1462 after the city was taken by Adolf von Nassau, which broke down trade and commerce.

His first documented print, Liber Johannis Chrysostomi super psalmo quinquagesimo , dates from 1466; it is very likely that he opened an off- press shop in Cologne much earlier, possibly as early as 1462 . He is first mentioned in a document in Cologne on June 17, 1464, when he was entered in the register of the university .

Since Zell called himself a clericus diocesis Moguntinensis in the Chrysostom print mentioned, it is assumed that he had come under the protection of the clergy; he did not appear in the citizen lists or in the guild and only called himself a Civis Coloniensis in later years in his colophon , the final document (also called explicit ) of the prints .

In 1471 he married the patrician Katharina Spangenberg from Cologne; the marriage resulted in a son, John. Cell's date of death, like his birth, is unknown; the last record of his life comes from the year 1507.

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Ulrich Zell's types (facsimile, 1840)

Nine different prints by Ulrich Zell are documented by a note in the colophon. Based on typographical comparisons, one is convinced that far more prints have emerged from his press; the well-founded assumption is up to 120 prints.

This assumption is also supported by the fact that Ulrich Zell was very successful in business. In 1471 he acquired a Birklin house with a courtyard in the Lyskirchen district and in 1473 the knight's seat of the von Lyskirchen family next to this apartment . Apparently he also had his office here, because he stated apud Lyskirchen in his printer's mark . Another number of houses and lands that Zell owned in the following period are occupied.

Since Ulrich Zell's place of residence and work was far from the university and church center of Cologne, where he sold his sales, he set up a branch there in 1478 to sell his printed works, which he kept until 1493 and then sold. There is also documentary evidence of a whole series of business negotiations with the church in Lyskirchen.

Ulrich Zell printed mainly in quarto and folio format , in which he supplied the professors and the University of Cologne with the textbooks, especially theological literature. In the last decade of the 15th century, folk-language works were also added , partly in collaboration with Johann Koelhoff the Younger , apparently for economic reasons, as competition on the Cologne book market had increased. Zell's last prints are dated to 1502.

literature

• Jakob Schnorrenberg:  Zell, Ulrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 45, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1900, pp. 19-21 .; here are the nine prints of Zell documented by colophon notes.
• Karl Falkenstein: History of book printing in its development and training. Leipzig 1840, p. 153.
• Johann Jakob Merlo : Ulrich Zell. Cologne's first printer. Edited by Otto Zaretzky from the manuscript that was left behind. Cologne 1900, digitized edition under: urn : nbn: de: s2w-3600 .
• Fritz Funke: Book customer. Munich-Pullach 1969, p. 85.
• Wolfgang Schmitz: The transmission of German texts in Cologne book printing of the 15th and 16th centuries. Habilitation thesis. Cologne 1990, online .

Web links

• Literature by and about Ulrich Zell in the catalog of the German National Library
• Prints by Ulrich Zell in the complete catalog of cradle prints