MONDAY’S WEATHER TURNED NASTY, CATS and dogs rain and cold. And it was still raining when we arrived in the port city of Antwerp. It’s a working-class city and nowhere is this more apparent than in the Docklands where we are staying, an area of cafes where men with thick arms and thicker bellies suck in smoke and suds. But the Docklands Best Western is reasonably priced, has a good breakfast and free parking if you are lucky enough to snag a space.
Reubens wouldn't get lost
Antwerp — all of Belgium as I recall — was shut down by a national strike when we visited in November so we decided to try again. The rain had stopped and the sun actually made a brief appearance as we hoofed it from the Docklands to the historic center, not willing to give up our parking space. The narrow streets can be confusing with their twists and turns and strange names but we keyed on the belfry of Our Lady Cathedral. Things were much more active and colorful today as Antwerp prepares for some shindig or other this weekend. But our goal was the World Heritage Platin-Moretus House Workshop, home to the oldest printing presses in the world and an original “36-line” Gutenberg Bible.
Oldest Printing Press
In a past life, I was a publisher but am woefully ignorant about the history of printing save for some anecdotes about B. Franklin. Beginning in the 16th Century and continuing for 300 years the Platin-Moretus plant did everything except make the paper. Not only did they set the type (backwards, of course) and print the pages, they crafted the dies for each letter in every font that were used to cast the lead type. The final exhibit was on the creation of new fonts for both print and digital use that is still on-going, not something I’ve given much thought to.
New letters for the digital age
