In the Library: Jost Amman and Sixteenth-Century Woodcut Illustration

Jost Amman was born in Zurich in 1539, the son of a noted scholar. Despite opting to train as an artisan, he maintained connections with humanist scholars throughout his career. Little is known of his early years or where he received his training, but by 1561 he had relocated to Nuremburg where he became one of northern Europe’s most prolific printmakers and book illustrators of the late sixteenth century.