The Laurens Janszoon Coster reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Laurens Janszoon Coster

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Statue of Laurens Coster - Haarlem, The NetherlandsEnlarge

Statue of Laurens Coster - Haarlem, The Netherlands

Laurens Janszoon Coster (b. ca. 1370, Haarlem, The Netherlands - d. unknown) was one of the early European printers. Some claim he was the first European to invent movable type, although the little evidence there is about this matter seems to show that Johann Gutenberg preceded him.

His last name, Coster, is sometimes written as Koster. The middle name, meaning 'son of Jan', is sometimes abbreviated to 'Jansz.'