Schöffer, Peter

Peter Schöffer, (born 1425Mainz [Germany]), German printer who assisted Johannes Gutenberg and later opened his own printing shop.

Schöffer studied in Paris, where he supported himself as a copyist, and then became an apprentice to Gutenberg in Mainz. He entered the printing business as the partner of Gutenberg’s creditor, Johann Fust, whose daughter he later married. The best-surviving examples of his craftsmanship are the 1457 Mainz Psalter and the 1462 48-line Bible. The Psalter was the first printed book to give the date and place of printing and the printers’ names.

Schöffer cast the first metallic type in matrices and used it for the second edition of the Vulgate Bible. By the time of his death he had printed more than 300 books.