Christophe Plantin

Originally a bookbinder, Plantin settled in Antwerp in 1549, founding his printing establishment under the motto 'Labore et Constantia' (By Labor and Constancy). In 1570, King Philip II of Spain appointed him Architypographus Regius, granting him the monopoly on printing liturgical books across the Spanish Empire.

His monumental crowning work, the eight-volume Antwerp Polyglot Bible (Biblia Regia, 1568–1572), presented scripture in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Greek, and Latin. His historic printing workshop and townhouse on the Vrijdagmarkt in Antwerp survives intact as the UNESCO World Heritage Plantin-Moretus Museum.