Chrétien Wechel (1495 - 1554), or Christianus Welchlus, was a French printer active in Paris in the first half of the 16th century. Wechel was born in Herentals, Brabant, near Antwerp. He married Michelle Robillart, a widow who, through her deceased husband Jean Périer, was well connected in French literary and publishing circles. He moved to Paris around 1519 and was naturalized as a French citizen in 1528. In August of 1526, Wechel and Robillart acquired the Paris business of the Swabian bookseller and printer Conrad Resch (Resch was relocating to Basel), for whom Wechel worked as a manager. Wechel expanded the publishing arm of the already significant bookshop, adding his own presses by 1528. Wechel specialized in Greek, Hebrew and Humanist prints. He embraced the ideas of Martin Luther and the French evangelicals. He published the 1540 edition of Oronce Finé's (1494 - 1555) important Nova, et Integra Universi Orbis Descriptio. When Wechel died in 1554, his son André Wechel took over the Paris business, which he ran until 1573. He relocated the business to Frankfurt-am-Main, where it was active from 1573 to 1581.



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