This is an essential, novel study of the distribution networks, pricing standards, and astounding volume of sales that characterized a vital component of the European print trade in the Early Modern Period, as revealed by the exceptional records of the Plantin-Moretus Press of Antwerp.- The European print trade is an evocative topic. Not only art historians, but social, cultural, and economic historians all agree that it was of vital importance in the Early Modern Period, as the conveyer of established icons, as well as the most recent imagery and news. Yet, thus far it is often discussed solely on the basis of tantalizing, isolated case studies. Bowen and Imhof?s ground-breaking publication will address this significant lacuna by demonstrating in unprecedented detail how booksellers were routinely engaged in the extensive international distribution and sale of hundreds of thousands of prints annually between the mid-sixteenth and mid-seventeenth centuries. Based upon the exceptionally well-preserved archives of the renowned Plantin-Moretus Press of Antwerp, this book presents the often-overlooked interwoven worlds of booksellers and print sellers, while documenting Antwerp?s continued fame for the production and distribution of prints. Together with a remarkable array of clients, ranging from the cultivated and influential elite to ordinary laymen, these figures provide palpable examples of suppliers, buyers, and middlemen that reveal how they interacted with one another. Simultaneously, this work illuminates numerous critical related topics, ranging from how prints were priced and the relative quantities in which they were sold, to the importance of national and professional networks in these transactions. The result is an essential, novel study that clarifies how the print trade worked in practice during a burgeoning period in its evolution. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Prices and Presentation: A Consideration of Coloring, Supports, and Sales of Prints in Bulk Chapter 3. Christopher Plantin: From Print Dealer to Middleman and Courier Service Chapter 4. The Moretuses and the Print Trade Chapter 5. Family Ties and the Print Trade: The Extended Galle Family Chapter 6. A Spectrum of Print Dealers in Antwerp Chapter 7. The Demand for Prints from Antwerp, Far and Near Chapter 8. The Prospering Print Trade in Cologne Chapter 9. The Importance of the Frankfurt Fairs for the Print Trade in Seventeenth-Century Europe Chapter 10. Epilogue: Onwards into the Second Half of the Seventeenth Century Appendix 1. Print Publishers and the Prints They Sold via the Officina Plantiniana Appendix 2. Individuals Who Purchased Prints via the Officina Plantiniana Tables of Print Prices Bibliography Index