Fogel, Johannes ( fl 1455-?1460 )
One of the most celebrated of German bookbinders,
Fogel bound at least one and perhaps as many as
four copies of the Gutenberg Bible, one of which
bears his signature. Fogel's tools included a rope
knot and a lute player stamp, as well as triple
fillets accompanied by rosettes. He also worked
finely made headbands in red, white, and blue
silk. All of his bindings are decorated in a
manner characteristic of ERFURT BINDINGS ,
having the long, narrow center panel enclosed in a
broad border, with all lines crossing at the ends
to form squares in the corners.
Little is known of Fogel after 1460. All of his
extant signed bindings are thought to have
been bound at Erfurt before 1460, and by 1461 some
of his stamps were being used in conjunction with
others and without his signature on the bindings,
but it is not known whether he retired from
binding or just stopped signing his bindings. In
1462 his lute player and rope knot finishing tools
appear on a binding signed by Paulus Lehener. It
is possible, although probably unlikely, that he
discarded some tools and acquired others. (141 )
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