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Johann Gutenberg. The Man and His Invention. Albert Kapr. Translated from the German by Douglas Martin. Scolar Press. 1996. Hardcover ISBN 1-85928-114-1 $45.00.
The translator of this handsome book, Douglas Martin, tells us in his first few words that "there is no good biography of Gutenberg in English" (p. 7). Unfortunately this is still the case. Martin, a book designer, has translated Albert Kapr's Johannes Gutenberg: Personlichkeit und Leistung, first published in Leipzig in 1986. (A second edition was issued in 1988; Kapr died during the production of this edition but was involved in revisions up until the end.)
Albert Kapr was Rector of the Hochschule fur Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig and director of its Institute for Book Design. He was known for his work as a calligrapher and type designer, and had a very distinguished career as a book designer. He had long been interested in the subject of Gutenberg (and who among us is not) and had published several articles and books on Gutenberg. This biography is his magnum opus. It has often been said, and it is...