Johann Herwagen Explained

Johann Herwagen
Birth Date:	c. 1497
Birth Place:	Hegau
Death Date:	c. 1557-1558
Death Place:	Basel
Occupation:	Printer
Years Active:	1520-1558
Signature:	Fotothek df tg 0005047 Druckermarke.jpg

Johann Herwagen or Johann Herwagen the Elder, known as Hervagius (1497 in Hegau - 1557–1558 in Basel) was a Swiss Protestant publisher.

In contact with numerous European intellectuals, he was actively involved and made his mark in the dissemination and propagation of early ideas of the Reformation and the Renaissance.

Biography

He was born in 1497 in Hegau.^{[1] [2]} He was one of the first Protestant publishers, and he edited Luther's texts in the 1520s.^[3] He stayed in Strasbourg from 1523 to 1528. The publisher was very close to Johann Froben, and both were significant in the spread of Renaissance and Reformation ideas. In 1526, shortly after his death, he married his widow, Gertrude Lachner.^[4] His good knowledge of Greek and Latin allowed him to intervene directly and be consulted in case of printing disputes.^[5] During his lifetime, he was recognized as an important publisher and was nicknamed by his Latin name, Hervagius.^[6] He was relatively close to Erasmus, among others,^[7] and Erasmus declared about him that he 'was a man of good faith and not unlearned'.

Despite Lachner and Herwagen's friendship with Erasmus, the couple had conflicts with the humanist in the late 1520s regarding Erasmus Froben's education, as they did not wish to follow the Dutchman's advice for him to study at the University of Louvain instead of remaining in Switzerland or going to Lyon.^[8] Despite their serious conflicts, the humanist continued to use their presses, likely out of friendship for Lachner rather than for Herwagen.^[9]

In addition to Luther's texts, he published other Protestant works as well as a variety of other works, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey,^[10] Bede^[11] or mathematical treatises.^{[12] [13]} The Swiss printer established editorial connections with François Rabelais^[14] and Sebastian Castellio, publishing the Castellio Bible in 1555.^[15] Herwagen also had an interest in patristics and was one of the first publishers to print the Greek texts of certain Church Fathers, such as John Chrysostom.^[16] In 1538, he was involved in scandal after seducing Katherina Weckart, the wife of his stepson Erasmus Forben, who left him. He had to face a trial and was sentenced in 1542 to a heavy fine and exile. Although he continued his activities and managed to return to Basel, this significantly slowed down his publishing endeavors.

He died around 1557-1558^[17] and his wife, Gertrude Herwagen née Lachner, died the following year.

He was the father of Johann Herwagen the Younger, who continued his works until his death in 1564.

Notes and References

1. Sebastiani . Valentina . Ricketts . Wendell . 2014 . Froben Press Editions (1505-1559) in the Holdings of the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies Library: A Brief Survey . Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme . 37 . 3 . 213–234 . 10.33137/rr.v37i3.22463 . 43446603 . 0034-429X . 2024-06-20 . 2022-12-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221229211129/https://www.jstor.org/stable/43446603 . live .
2. Winger . Howard W. . Krek . Miroslav . 1960 . The Cover Design . The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy . 30 . 2 . 144 . 10.1086/618747 . 4304979 . 0024-2519.
3. Strohm . Christoph . 2020 . La réception de Luther par le jeune Calvin . Revue d'histoire du protestantisme . 5 . 1 . 69–88 . 45285766 . 2297-6167.
4. Rostenberg . Leona . 1944 . Johann Oporin, Printer, Publisher, and Scholar: 1507-68 . The Library Quarterly . en . 14 . 3 . 207–213 . 10.1086/616946 . 0024-2519.
5. Winger . Howard W. . 1962 . The Cover Design . The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy . 32 . 3 . 223 . 10.1086/619019 . 4305251 . 0024-2519.
6. Freedman . Luba . 1995 . Cinquecento Mythographic Descriptions of Neptune . International Journal of the Classical Tradition . 2 . 1 . 44–53 . 10.1007/BF02678169 . 30222798 . 1073-0508.
7. Schwarzfuchs . Lyse . Kemp . William . 2016 . Érasme et l'hébreu à Lyon: les Colloques de 1530 . La Bibliofilía . 118 . 2 . 251–264 . 26202331 . 0006-0941 . 2024-06-20 . 2022-01-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220108215417/https://www.jstor.org/stable/26202331 . live .
8. Margolin . J. C. . 1970 . Du Nouveau Sur Érasme: Un Billet Inédit De L'humaniste Hollandais . Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance . 32 . 1 . 107–113 . 0006-1999 . 20674692.
9. Web site: PS Allen . en . Erasmus' Relations With His Printers .
10. 2000 . Friends of the Library . The Princeton University Library Chronicle . 61 . 3 . 447–451 . 10.25290/prinunivlibrchro.61.3.0447 . 10.25290/prinunivlibrchro.61.3.0447 . 0032-8456.
11. Lapidge . Michael . 2007 . Byrhtferth of Ramsey and the "Glossae Bridferti in Bedam" . The Journal of Medieval Latin . 17 . 384–400 . 10.1484/J.JML.2.305705 . 45019979 . 0778-9750.
12. Sharratt . Peter . 1966 . La Ramée's Early Mathematical Teaching . Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance . 28 . 3 . 605–614 . 41430541 . 0006-1999.
13. Bushell . W. F. . 1947 . A Century of School Mathematics. Presidential Address to the Mathematical Association, April, 1947 . The Mathematical Gazette . 31 . 294 . 69–89 . 10.2307/3611358 . 3611358 . 0025-5572.
14. Monfort . Marie-Laure . 2012 . Le Discours Scientifique De Panurge . Seizième Siècle . 8 . 8 . 255–272 . 10.3406/xvi.2012.1055 . 24328883 . 1774-4466.
15. Keller . Hans-Erich . 1959 . Castellios Übertragung Der Bibel Ins Französische . Romanische Forschungen . 71 . 3/4 . 383–403 . 27936750 . 0035-8126.
16. Love . Rosalind . 2007 . Bede and John Chrysostom . The Journal of Medieval Latin . 17 . 72–86 . 10.1484/J.JML.2.305684 . 45019958 . 0778-9750.
17. Gorman . Michael . 1996 . The glosses on Bede's "De temporum ratione" attributed to Byrhtferth of Ramsey . Anglo-Saxon England . 25 . 209–232 . 10.1017/S0263675100002015 . 44509640 . 0263-6751.