the 500th anniversary of Christopher Plantin's birth (circa 1520-1589) Originally from Touraine, Plantin was trained as a bookbinder, but around 1549/50, he moved to Antwerp, a hub for international trade. In 1555, he laid the foundations for the largest printing company that has ever existed in Europe during the Ancien Régime. Plantin was a business genius and a talented typographer. In 1570, Philips II, king of Spain, bestowed on him the title of architypographer. Although Plantin was at times also involved in illicit activities, his company, bearing the device The Golden Compasses, became one of the most important supporters of the Counter Reformation. After his death, the business was passed on to his son-in-law Jan Moretus I, and remained in the hands of the family until the 19th century. From the outset, Plantin?s production was marked by its quality. Both his correspondence and the surviving business documents give testimony of his great ambitions, his understanding of the different buyers and markets, and his extreme care for book design. Christopher Plantin and his successors transformed the aesthetics of the Renaissance book and inaugurated the Baroque era in terms of its mise en page by mobilizing new typographical and ornamental materials and by promoting copperplate illustrations. In addition, they set up a privileged collaboration with the artist Pieter Paul Rubens. During this golden century of the Officina Plantiniana, which gave birth to more than 5,000 editions, visual temptation is combined with readability and efficiency in the shaping of the texts and book design. Published in 2021 in Antwerpen by Vereniging van Antwerpse bibliofielen. Volume 98, Nummer 2 van Gulden Passer/The Golden Compasses