At the time his father died in 1503, when he took over the business, Johann Schoeffer appears to have been the only significant printer remaining in Mainz; the sack of the city in 1462 had caused many printers to go out of business or disperse around Europe. Working largely for the university, he produced works of classical scholarship (new German translations and Latin editions of Livy) and indulged his love of ancient Roman architecture by bringing out several illustrated books on the subject. Notably, he was the first printer openly to acknowledge Gutenberg as the inventor of the wonderful art of printing’. He died in 1531, and the business was continued by his brother’s son Ivo until 1555.
German printer, son of Peter Schoeffer.
At the time his father died in 1503, when he took over the business, Johann Schoeffer appears to have been the only significant printer remaining in Mainz; the sack of the city in 1462 had caused many printers to go out of business or disperse around Europe. Working largely for the university, he produced works of classical scholarship (new German translations and Latin editions of Livy) and indulged his love of ancient Roman architecture by bringing out several illustrated books on the subject. Notably, he was the first printer openly to acknowledge Gutenberg as the inventor of the wonderful art of printing’. He died in 1531, and the business was continued by his brother’s son Ivo until 1555.