John Siberch


John Siberch was the first Cambridge printer and an associate of Erasmus.

Life

Initially Johann Lair von Siegburg, he was born at Sieglar, now part of Troisdorf in Germany. His father Peter von Lair was a wool weaver. His family moved to Siegburg during his childhood, and he adopted the name of this city. He was educated at the University of Cologne.
He became involved in the bookselling industry in the 1510s, initially in the service of Hans Beck. He also married a sister of Gertrud Birkmann, the daughter of bookseller Gerhard Amersfoot and wife of another bookseller Franz Birckmann, thus gaining familial connections with some of the key figures in printing and bookselling. Siberch had two daughters from this marriage, Katharina and Baetzgen.
Siberch later moved to Cambridge, where he set up a printing press in 1520–1, possibly through Richard Croke.

Works

Books published by Siberch included:
Two leaves only, of an edition of William Lily's De octo orationis partium constructione, were discovered in the library of Westminster Abbey.