Plantin-Moretus Museum

For my class' excursion on Friday June 28th, we went to see the Plantin-Moretus museum in Antwerp. This post focuses specifically on the museum; I plan on making a separate post dedicated to the city itself.

The museum contains the two oldest printing presses in the world and was the only museum on the UNESCO World Heritage list when I visited it, although the Guggenheim was added to the list on July 7th, only a few days after my visit to the Plantin-Moretus.

Initially, I was a little worried to learn that our time at the museum would be led by a tour guide; I know that I can enjoy museums at my own pace, but being stuck with a tour means that my experience is tied to whatever they're willing to let me see. I knew that wouldn't be a problem, however, as soon as we met our guide. After introducing herself, the first thing she said was that she was in love with the museum, and hoped that we would be, too, by the end of the tour. It was an instant win in my book; passionate people are almost never boring to listen to, their knowledge and excitement is simply too contagious.

Looking back on it now, it's strange to think that I didn't truly appreciate the printing press before. I always knew the it was big and important, but I don't think I truly grasped exactly how much of a paradigm shift the printing press was until I visited this museum.

One of the two oldest printing presses in the world.

The other of the two oldest printing presses in the world.

For something so small, it's really impressive that this invention sparked such a massive cultural revolution. Knowledge is so omnipresent in current society that it's actually hard to imagine a time when you couldn't just Google whatever you wanted to know.

Most of the presses were in this room.

There was so much history in that room that I literally got goosebumps. Just imagine the things these machines have seen and done!

Everyone got weirdly quiet when we entered this room; it was weird to finally see something we'd all heard so much about. I'm still wondering how much of this was influenced by our tour guide; she was amazing at building suspense and making you really want to know what was coming in the next room.

Either way, it really got me thinking about how all of current society is rooted in the past; history's reach is inescapable. Everything is the way it is because of something else that came before it. Especially living in the age of technology and big data, it was very humbling to see all of these machines and recognize how different the world would have been without them.

The paper on the upper right side of the machine hinges down onto the plates of raised letters below, then be pressed so that any ink on the letters would transfer to the paper, resulting in a printed page.

They let us hold a plate of the metal letters; they're much heavier than you would think.

The Gutenberg Bible.

Putting all of the printing materials aside, the museum is a converted mansion, so there are ornate and beautiful artifacts in every corner.

Though you can't see it from this picture, the sides of this cabinet had some really impressive woodwork; it reminded me of my uncle.

Phantom of the Opera, anyone?

And, of course, there were lots and lots of books.