On Collecting Printing Medals



[written, published, and printed by Erich Wronker and Ron Press and copyright in 1978 - reproduced here with permission]

A COLLECTION OF PRINTERS' MEDALS is interesting not only because it offers a visual record of great printers and of events in printing history, but also because the very art of making medals is closely connected with the beginning of printing.

“The art of coining, or printing on metal, may not inaptly be called the elder sister of typography, or the art of printing on paper; indeed, the first idea of movable types was foreshadowed in the metal punch of the moneyer." Thus spoke the English printer and historian William Blades, addressing the Numismatic Society in London in 1867.

A hundred years later, James Moran wrote about this close connection between the early history of printing and the art of coinage: "Mainz had its own Mint, and the patrician family of Gensfleisch had special responsibilities for its management. One branch of the family lived in the Hof zum Gutenberg and the inventor of typographical printing was eventually called after this dwelling. . . . He had the opportunity, through his family connection, of studying, if not participating in, punch-cutting and mould-making, and acquiring a knowledge of the properties of metals."



In 1458 Nicolas Jenson was sent to Mainz by King Charles VII of France to learn the art of printing. Up to that time he had been engraver of the mint at Tours. He turned from cutting coins to cutting type; following the devastation of the city in 1462 he moved to Rome but eventually established himself at Venice. There he cut a roman type of harmonious beauty and great legibility that has been much admired and often copied by later type designers.

As Blades wrote, "it is . . . interesting to find the typographer calling to his aid the medallist, in order to secure a more lasting memorial of his art than he could expect from his own ink and paper."

My own personal collection of printers' medals has grown out of my twin interests in printing history and in numismatics. Since I have been interested for a long time in ancient Roman coinage, both Republican and Imperial, I occasionally attend numismatic conventions. Some years ago, at such a convention, I happened to notice a medal portraying Gutenberg. I bought it. Later I purchased a medal issued in Parma in 1802 honoring Giambattista Bodoni. That sparked my curiosity as a printer and was the beginning of my collection.



Visiting the library of the American Numismatic Society, I found two books on the subject of printing medals, published respectively over 100 and 70 years ago by the Englishman William Blades and the German Paul Jehne. Fortunately, I have been able to buy copies of both these books for my library. Despite their age, they are still useful references, since no more recent publications exist. There are, however, a few auction catalogs which carry the coverage down to more recent years.

Each coin, medal or token has its own fascinating story. When was it made, who commissioned it and why? Who was the designer, the engraver, the company that produced it? These are the things we would like to know, and which add to the pleasure of collecting.

A few museums have collections of printing medals on display. A fine one can be seen in the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz. The Cluny Museum in Paris has a few rare guild tokens (jetons de presence) on display. They were found in 1861 while dredging the river Seine and refer to practioners of various trades, including pharmacists, fishmongers, bakers, carpenters, gardeners and bricklayers-but also printers and bookdealers, dated 1561 and 1568.

Medals are issued on many occasions, for example, to commemorate historic printing anniversaries or to advertise printing firms, to mark the jubilees of companies or newspapers, to promote printing societies, to reward service or artistic achievement, to raise funds and to celebrate freedom of the press.

Numerous medals were issued in 1740 and 1840, on the third and fourth centenary of the invention of printing, by German, French and Dutch towns wishing to proclaim their connection with some aspect of the industry. Most of the medals bear portraits of Gutenberg, Laurens J. Koster or Fust and Schoeffer or pictures of presses, symbols and personifications of printing, or, occasionally, bibles and religious inscriptions.

In 1900, in celebration of Gutenberg's 500th birthday, medals were issued not only in Strasbourg and Mainz but also in such far away places as Buenos Aires and New York. A medal commemorating "The First American Statue of Gutenberg, Erected in New York by Robert Hoe, 1899" was issued that year. This monument, created by Ralph Goddard, was on Grand Street between Sheriff and Columbia Streets, but was removed to make way for a housing project. Does anyone know where it is now?

In 1956, the 500th anniversary of Gutenberg's death, both East and West Germany minted special coins.

Moreover, there are medals commemorating other festivities, such as the 400th anniversary of the introduction of printing in Basel, Lyons, Mexico, Vienna, etc.

Many private firms as well as societies and associations had medals minted to call attention to jubilees of their establishment or royal visits to their premises. In 19th century France subscribers to encyclopedias or the collected works of classical writers sometimes received medals from the publisher and printer on the completion of these major undertakings.

The earliest known medal honoring a printer depicts Aldus Manutius, who established his shop in Venice in 1489. The reverse shows his famous pressmark, the dolphin and anchor, copied from a sesterce of the emperor Vespasian. It is likely that this medal was issued during Aldus' lifetime, that is before 1515, the year of his death.

It is hardly possible to list all the printers in whose memory medals have been issued. Among the better known are William Caxton, Christophe Plantin, Henri and Robert Estienne, the Elzeviers, Johannes Froben, Pierre, Jules and Firmin Didot, Benjamin Franklin, Alois Senefelder and Theodore Low De Vinne.



Another kind of memorabilia consists of tokens. These are coin-like objects which have strictly local, or even merely private, status either as a money substitute or as a symbol or "token" of some particular standing in the community. The first group of tokens pertinent to our subject, issued by the printing and bookseller guilds of the 16th and 17th century and extremely rare, usually served as symbols of membership in these exclusive organizations and often bear a person's name and dates engraved individually upon them. Far more common are trade tokens of the late 18th century issued particularly in England, not only by organizations, but also by local tradesmen. Like other firms of that period, book and newspaper dealers made use of copper tokens to alleviate the shortage of small change as well as to advertise their activities. American hard-time tokens and those issued during the Civil War period served a similar purpose.

Closer to our own time, the Association of Printing House Craftsmen and the International Typographical Union issued badges with ribbons and bars to identify delegates and visitors to their conventions; but today's plastic buttons hardly belong in a numismatic collection.

Medals presented in the American graphic arts field include the Franklin Award for Distinguished Service, given by the Printing Industries of Metropolitan New York, the Pulitzer Prize (designed by Daniel Chester French), the Mergenthaler Award, established by the Inter-American Press Association for Latin American journalistic achievements.

I now have medals from Germany, Holland, Italy, France, Belgium, England, Sweden, Hungary, Mexico, Austria, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Chile and the United States. It has become increasingly difficult to establish a comprehensive collection of medals connected with printing. Although they usually have no great intrinsic value they are hard to find. Often they were issued in very limited numbers. While I do not go for the instant collectibles as manufactured and sold by various enterprises nowadays, I do try to get any item that has to do with printing without passing judgement on the "importance" of the medal or the artistic quality of the design. Among collectors of medals, printing is a neglected field. There must be numerous single pieces around; it would be good to know about them for more complete information. How much can still be salvaged?



In addition to the medals strictly connected with printing, I have others concerning a few directly related subjects such as type designers, paper and printing ink manufacturing, bookbinding, publishing, and libraries, periodicals and newspapers. Finally, I would be grateful if anyone who has some material as described in these pages would correspond with me. This would help me to share it with others by publishing a more detailed listing, with full descriptions and illustrations of each individual medal. E. Wronker

Photographs taken by the author from his collection.

Engravings courtesy Dr. Robert L. Leslieand Pioneer-Moss, Inc. N. Y. C.

Handset in A TF Century Expanded and printed on Mohawk Superfine Paper, two pages at a time, on a 75-year-old 7 x 11 Pearl treadle press by LILI and ERICH WRONKER (in their living room at) 144-44 Village Road, Jamaica, New York 11435.

250 copies for The Typophiles and friends.

RON PRESS 1978