Vreugdeliederen toegewijd aan de Nagedachtenis van Laurens Koster op Koppermaandag [...] 1825; opgedragen aan onzen Patroon J. Oomkens door drieëntwintig van deszelfs Bedienden

[Anoniem] - Vreugdeliederen toegewijd aan de Nagedachtenis van Laurens Koster op Koppermaandag den 10 Januarij 1825; opgedragen aan onzen Patroon J. Oomkens door drieëntwintig van deszelfs Bedienden - [N.pl.] - [No publ.] - 1825 - 1st edition - [16] pp - Paper wrappers - 12 x 19,5 cm.

Condition: Good.

Antiquarian Copper Monday edition of a printer, possibly in Haarlem or Groningen, with four typographic song texts that applaud Laurens Janszoon Coster: 11. Feestlied; 2. Het Heil der Drukkunst; 3. Koppermaandag; 4. Wet voor de zetters en drukkers. The circulation will have been very low.

Laurens Janszoon Coster is the name attributed to a fifteenth-century Haarlem sexton ('koster' in Dutch), who was regarded for centuries as the inventor of the printing press, especially in the Netherlands. Today, however, there is great doubt about the historicity of the character Coster and it is widely believed that the German Johannes Gutenberg (in 1452) was the inventor of printing in Europe.

¶ 'Koppermaandag' or 'Koppertjesmaandag' is the first Monday after Epiphany (6 January) and traditionally a public holiday for printers. The apprentices of the printers printed a special print with a congratulation on it, the 'Koppermaandagprent', as a proof of their competence, which they presented to the master printers and the owner of the company on 'Koppermaandag'. In the 19th century, prints were sent to business relations as a gift. In the course of the 20th century, the ritual was virtually lost, but after WW2, the custom among margin printers came back into vogue.