Museums of Typography

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Belgium

• Plantin Moretus Museum in Antwerp
  • Address:
    Vrijdagmarkt 22
    tel: 0032 (0)3 221 14 50 FAX: 0032 (0)3 221 14 60

  • There is more information in Dutch (as well as some lovely images of the interior).

France

• Musée de l'Imprimerie et de la Banque in Lyon
  • Address and hours:
    13, rue de la Poulaillerie, 69002 Lyon
    Tel : +33 (0)4 78 37 65 98
    Fax : +33 (0)4 78 38 25 95
    

Germany

• Gutenberg-Museum in Mainz
  
  • Address and hours:
    Liebfrauenplatz 5, 55116 Mainz
    Phone: +49 (0)6131 - 122640 or 122644
    Tuesday to Saturday from 9.00 to 17.00. Sunday from 11.00 to 15.00
    The museum is closed on the official holidays in Germany.

  • Comments by Karel van der Waarde: "Certainly worth a long visit, (one full day). The Dom next to it is worth a visit as well".
  • Comments by Martin Schröder: "Mainz is a _must_. 1.5 Gutenberg bibles and _many_ old books. But they are a bit thin on printing technology".
• Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel
  • Has permanent exhibition of Hermann Zapf's work.
• Klingspor-Museum Offenbach
  
  • Address: Herrnstraße 80, 63061 Offenbach am Main
  • Comments by Karel van der Waarde: A major collection of book and writing and printing materials. The basis in 1953 was the library of the Klingspor foundry. Other specialities are calligraphy, book illustrations, the work of Rudolf Koch, Eckmann, Peter Behrens. Basically they have far too much to show everything, and it depends a bit on the exhibition in the main area. However, the standard collection upstairs is worth a visit.
• Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Göttingen
  
  • Address: Platz der Göttinger Sieben 1, 37073 Göttingen
  • The GUTENBERG DIGITAL project has the complete Göttingen Gutenberg Bible available on the Web. Enter the site at www.gutenbergdigital.de/gudi/start.htm. Available in German and English.
• Werkstätten und Museum für Druckkunst Leipzig
  (Workshops and Museums for the Art of Printing)
  • address: Nonnenstraße 38, 04229 Leipzig. Phone: +49 - 3 41 - 4 90 49-0
    Facsimile: +49 - 3 41 - 4 90 49-49
    e-mail: info@druckkunst-museum.de
  • Hours Monday to Friday (except holidays) from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. On Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Guided tours for individuals or groups by appointment.

Italy

• Museo Bodoniano in Parma, dedicated to Giambattista Bodoni
  • Address: next to the Bibilioteca Palatina of Parma.
    Piazza della Pilotta 5
    tel: 0521-282217

• Biblioteca Angelica, a public library Roma
  • Comments by Klaus E. Werner:
    In Italy there are _e_a_s_i_ly_ accessible (identity card). Right around my corner there is such a library (Biblioteca Angelica, Roma) that possesses-- among other things -- 1.100 incunaboli (books before 1500), 20.000 books of the 16th century, 519 books of Bodoni etc. You just go there, show your passport at the entrance and they will give you what you want. Even the editions of Aldus Manutius (Hyperotnomachia Poliphili) and Nikolaus Jenson (Plinius' Naturalis Historia).

Netherlands

• Meermanno-Westreenianum museum in The Hague, Amsterdam (In Dutch)
  • Excerpted from the "Welcome" -- "In 1994 A Hundred Highlights from the Koninklijke Bibliotheek was published. In this book a selection of manuscripts, printed works, book bindings, and specimens from the paper history collection in the Department of Special Collections is presented with explanatory notes, mainly provided by staff of the Department.

    "Members of the staff of the Library Research Department have adapted the book for digital distribution. The result may be seen on your screen: a digital book of plates with comments.

    "Just like the version of the Highlights published in book form, the digital Highlights can be browsed and provide an extensive introduction and index. Moreover, the electronic presentation offers you the opportunity of joining a number of selected guided tours. If you are interested in the ways the Library's treasures on paper or parchment were made, there are tours, for instance, of miniatures in medieval manuscripts, modern typography, bookbindings and paper making. For those interested in the contents of these works of art, there are tours of literary, religious, historical, art historical and other subjects.

    "The copyright of this edition is deposited at Waanders Uitgevers and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. "

Switzerland

• Basler Papiermühle, Swiss Paper Museum & Museum for Writing and Printing.
  • Address:
    St. Alban-Tal 37; 4052 Basel/Switzerland
    tel: +41 61 272 96 52
    fax: +41 61 272 09 93

  • You can search this website in English, German and French.
  • Comments by Bruno Maag:
    It is more like an old papermill - fully working - than a museum about type. It does workshops in papermaking, hand setting and printing. It is also gorgeously located on the river Rhein with a little cafe in front of it. So, if you're there in the Summer it is an ideal place to unwind.
• Typorama
  • Address: Fabrikstrasse 30a, 9220 Bischofszell
    tel: +41 (0)71 422 28 20
    email: info@typorama.ch
  • Hours: Wednesday, 2pm-4.30pm (no guided tours)
    Guided Tours: every first Sunday of the Month, at 2pm and 4pm
    Guided tours for groups or individuals by appointment.

United Kingdom

• The British Library at St Pancras.
  • Address:
    96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB

  • Excerpted from the "Digital Library/Treasures Digitisation" pages:
    "The British Library Exhibition Galleries house some of the world's most famous books and documents, including the Diamond Sutra, the world's first recorded printed document, produced in China in the 8th century AD; two version of Magna Carta, internationally considered to be the foundation of civil liberties; the Lindisfarne Gospels, the pinnacle of Anglo-Saxon artistry; and Gutenberg's 42-line Bible, Europe's first printed book, c.1455. "
  • November 2000: British Library presents two complete copies of the Gutenberg Bible for online access. See The Gutenberg Bible online digital facsimile Web site and BBC November News Gutenberg Bible goes online
  • The Early Printed Collections Web site has links to the new "Gutenberg Years" exibition, digitisation projects and more.
  • Comments by Tom Chadwin:
    Having recently started occasional work in London, I have had the chance to visit the new British Library at St Pancras. Although not in possession of a reader's ticket, and hence unable to enter the reading rooms, I still regard the library as my favourite place in London, and have revisited it every time I have returned. There is a splendid exhibition on print and type in the basement, and, of course, the public galleries. Needless to say, I cannot recommend a visit to the Library highly enough. It seems to me that there is a great deal more on display than there was in the Manuscripts Room at the British Museum, and to be able to see works by Gutenberg, Caxton, Aldus, and Wynkyn de Worde side by side is a joy.

• The Cavendish Gallery of Print & Typography
  (this link will take you to the Cavendish Online Gallery...)

• The St Brides Library, London
  • Address and hours: St Bride Printing Library
    Bride Lane, Fleet Street
    London EC4Y 8EE
    Phone 020 7353-4660
    Hours: 9:30 to 5:30 Monday to Friday
    

  • Comments:
    St Bride Printing Library opened in 1895 as a technical library, and since 1992, has built its international reputation as one of the world's foremost printing and graphics arts library.
    
• The Type Museum
  
  • Address: The Type Museum
    100 Hackford Road
    London SW9 0QU
    Telephone: 1+ 020 7735 0055
    

  • The Type Museum is a living, working museum and an important resource for all those interested in written and printed letterforms.

    The Museum is currently under development, and for practical reasons can only offer limited access at present.

    The Type Museum offers visitors the chance to explore aspects of the collections through a series of Open Days, held on the first Wednesday of each month. Demonstrations start at 10 am, noon, and 2 pm. Admission charge £5 (concessions £3).

    We regret that there is no disabled access to these events.

United States

• Hamilton Wood Type Museum
  • Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
• Museum of Printing
  • Address:
    800 Massachusetts Avenue
    North Andover, MA 01845
    tel: (978) 686-0450
• Providence Public Library
  • The library houses the Daniel Berkeley Updike collection. For more information, call (401) 455-8021. It is best to plan ahead and make arrangements to see this collectcion.

• Rochester Institute of Technology
  • Cary Library
    Address:
    90 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623-5604
    tel: (716) 475-2408
  • The Goudy International Center for Font Technology and Asthetics
  • School of Printing Management and Sciences

• Stanford University Library
  Information about opening hours and library locations can be found on the About SUL page.
  • Department of Special Collections: Art and History of the Book
  • Art and Architecture Library: Illuminated Manuscript and other Facsimiles"
    
  • "Dime Novels and Penny Dreadfuls" -- Guided tour of print processes, Black and White Reproduction

• The Museum of Printing History
  • Address:
    1324 W. Clay, Houston, Texas 77019
    tel: (713) 522-4652, fax: (713) 522-8342