THE SCHOLTZ-PRESS IN BESZTERCEBÁNYA 1578
 

A bányavárost ábrázoló XVII. századi metszetThis printing shop is one of the shortest-lived printing enterprises of 16th century Hungary. The town of Besztercebánya (Banská Bystrica, SK) was one of the rich copper mining towns of Upper Hungary. The contemporary accounts of the city contain several references as to the person of the printer Christoph Scholtz and certain transactions relating the newly founded printing shop.
From these references it appears that Christoph Scholtz a native Upper-Hungarian and a learned printer bought certain printing equipments including a press in Leipzig and settled in Besztercebánya in 1577. The town apparently welcomed his enterprise and lent him money to pay his debt, and a year later further money to acquire fraktur types suitable for printing German texts.
A  Vártemplom Szt. Borbála  szárnyas oltárának részleteOnly two products are known from this samll printing shop, both in Latin and both from 1578. One is the Lutheran confession of the seven Upper Hungarian towns by Gregor Meltzer (RMNy 407) and the other is the description and nature of the comet observed 13th November 1577 by Jacobus Pribicerus. The author was the professor of the school in Besztercebánya. This work is illustrated with the woodcut picture of the comet (RMNy 408).
On the basis of these two printings the activity of the press was not likely to be continuous. Still, Christoph Scholtz is mentioned by the city accounts in 1590 as printer living in the town.
A striking coincidence that the very same year two other Upper Hungarian presses began to work: that of David Gutgesell in Bártfa (Bardejov, SK) mostly inhabited by Lutherans and the other in Nagyszombat (Trnava, SK) being the first Catholic press in Hungary. Üstökös képe a besztercebányai nyomda első kiadványának címlapján (RMNy 408) Perhaps this circumstance was one reason why Scholtz could not get more commissions, although his equipment was not the poorest. He had 6 different type, of these one Greek, the others Roman and some printer's flowers. Despite the fact that the town supported his acquisition of German printing types, there is no trace of these, as both of his printings are Latin.

LITERATURE:
Dörnyei Sándor: A 16. századi besztercebányai nyomda történetéhez. In: MKsz 1965.62-64.
V. Ecsedy Judit: A régi magyarországi nyomdák betűi és díszei. Budapest 2004. (Hungaria typographica 1.)

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PRINTING TYPES

A besztercebányai nyomda antikva típusa A besztercebányai nyomda kisebbik kurzív típusa

A besztercebányai nyomda
antikva típusa

A besztercebányai nyomda kisebbik kurzív típusa

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ILLUSTRATIONS

Üstökös képe a besztercebányai nyomda első kiadványának címlapján (RMNy 408)

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