Pierre L. Van der Haegen. Der fruhe Basler Buchdruck: okonomische, soziopolitische und informationssystematische Standorotfaktoren und Rahmenbedingungen.

Basel and Muttenz: Schwabe and Co. AG, 2001. 218 pp. index, illus, tbls. bibl. 29 [euro]. ISBN: 3-7965-1090-6.

With his 1998 catalogue of books printed in Basel during the fifteenth century, Pierre L. Van der Haegen demonstrated his mastery of Basel incunabula. But now he has pursued a more complex question. What was the attraction of Basel to early printers? The search for an answer to this question is difficult because little direct evidence from the printers or their colleagues is available. Acknowledging these difficulties, the author presents a panoramic picture of late-fifteenth-century Basel-the economic, social, and political environment--and suggests those factors that might have attracted printers.

He describes the human and material resources available when the printers arrived. For example, craftsmen skilled in metal working could help prepare the type. Paper was produced in Basel but the author notes that printers often preferred cheaper imported paper. Further, Van der Haegen reviews the extant financial and legal records of the printers in order to determine the sources of financing for larger publications. Some funds came from Basel but in other cases funding came from other cities. The detailed description of the printing process, the many time-consuming steps, vividly illustrates the precarious financial position of early printers whose income arrived rather long after the expenses of printing. Prepaid commissions were not common in early years. These perils led to the collapse of some printing houses.

Utilizing his command of extant incunabula, Van der Haegen is able to identify some of the first buyers of these rather expensive books. Then he suggests a rough outline of the sales pattern within the city and beyond. He notes that Basel's strategic location on trade routes aided the printers in supplying their external customers. The discussion of the local market leads the author to engage the debate about the extent of literacy within the city. He recites data about the distribution of wealth and suggests that with some exceptions, such as university students, greater wealth was identified with greater literacy.

Some interesting "negative" results emerge. The intellectual leaders of the city--bishop, cathedral chapter, and university faculty--did not write or commission many volumes. Most of the early works were quite traditional--canon law, liturgy, scholastic philosophy, and theology. Humanistic publications such as translations of classical literature began to appear only after 1490. Van der Haegen lauds the free intellectual environment of the city, the lack of censorship, but one should note that the early books did not challenge authority in the church or city.

The discussion of the political, social, and economic environment is problematic. Van der Haegen contends that a combination of merchants and craftsmen controlled the city and were free to determine their own fate. Upper-class status was open to new wealth and the desire for wealth and status was the primary motivation of early printers. Further, he suggests that the cultural and social gap between the merchants and craftsmen on the one hand and city intellectuals on the other was not so great.

In fact, the alleged harmonious coalition of merchants and craftsmen was not so harmonious. Merchants protected themselves with monopolistic regulations which often were detrimental to craftsmen. Craftsmen were forbidden to participate in mercantile activity beyond the local sale of their own products, but merchants utilized double guild membership in order to engage in craft production as well as sales. Craftsmen complained repeatedly about these restrictions until finally, during the 1520s, they demanded a complete reform of production in order to strengthen their position vis-a-vis the merchants.

Where did the printers fit into this picture? The evidence suggests that the environment created by the guilds was not attractive to the printers who, at first, chose not to join guilds. Instead, they utilized their independent status to engage in both craft and mercantile activities. The relation of the printers to the economic structures of the city was more ambiguous than the author suggests. Further, Van der Haegen's suggestions about the relative cultural equality are refuted by Sebastian Brant, who greatly influenced the publications of the 1490s. In his Ship of Fools, Brant scorned the wealthy who bought books but did not read them and who dominated the city council even if they were not learned.

In sum, two rather different conclusions can be drawn. On the one hand, the study does not present a fully persuasive argument. This is due in part to the fact that the questions it seeks to answer--why Basel?--is almost unanswerable. A comparison with other cities where early printers settled would be helpful, but no such comparison is offered. However, on the other hand, the reader is rewarded with a rich and detailed narrative of printers and mercantile life in late-fifteenth-century Basel.

PAUL L. NYHUS

Bowdoin College