John Siberch

John Siberch (c.1476–1554) was the first Cambridge printer and an associate of Erasmus.

Life

Initially Johann Lair von Siegburg, he was born at Sieglar, near Troisdorf in Germany. His father Peter von Lair (died 1533) was a wool weaver. His family moved to Siegburg during his childhood, and he adopted the name of this city. He was educated at the University of Cologne.

He became involved in the bookselling industry in the 1510s, initially in the service of Hans Beck. He also married a sister of Gertrud Birkmann, the daughter of bookseller Gerhard Amersfoot and wife of another bookseller Franz Birckmann, thus gaining familial connections with some of the key figures in printing and bookselling. Siberch had two daughters from this marriage, Katharina and Baetzgen.

Siberch later moved to Cambridge, where he set up a printing press in 1520–1, possibly through Richard Croke.

Works

Books published by Siberch included:

• The Oratio addressed to Cardinal Wolsey at Cambridge by Henry Bullock. 1521.
• Augustine of Hippo's Sermo de miseria ac brevitate hujus mortalis vitæ, 1521.
• Lucian's Opusculum περὶ διψὰδων, 1521, edited by Bullock, with his oration to Wolsey.
• Baldwin of Forde's Sermo de altaris sacramento, 1521.
• Erasmus's De conscribendis epistolis, 1521.
• Galen's De temperamentis, translated by Thomas Linacre, 1521.
• John Fisher's Contio, delivered on the day of the public burning of the writings of Martin Luther, translated into Latin by Richard Pace, 1521 [1522].
• Papyrius Geminus's Hermathena, 1522.

Two leaves only, of an edition of William Lily's De octo orationis partium constructione, were discovered in the library of Westminster Abbey.