by Erasmus of Rotterdam. Through a deeply ramificated web of distributors the works of the Frobens reached the European book market in Venice, London, Frankfurt or Paris in a timely manner. Froben employed Hans Holbein the Younger, Urs Graf and Albrecht Dürer to illustrate his texts. Graf was the one who designed his device. Besides he also employed well known formschneiders like Jakob Faber (the "Master IF") and Hans Lützelburger, who was regarded as one of the finest formscheiders of his time. Holbein painted a portrait of Froben in the 1520s. Holbein also painted the device with Hermes caduceus which Froben used from 1523 onwards. Death Dying in October 1527 in Basel, Froben was succeeded by his son Hieronymus Froben who carried on the business in collaboration with Johann Herwagen and later Nikolaus Episcopius. Johannes Frobens memorial plaque in the Hebrew – Greek – Latin languages is located in the Peters Church in Basel which has been used as a reformed church since 1529. The church does not contain the remains of those who are memorialized within. The park across the street from the church was once a graveyard and it is believed that it is there where the now unmarked remains lay. Froben is, through his descendant Anna Catharina Bischoff a direct ancestor of the former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The young woman pictured with his memorial plaque in the notes section below is his American 11th great-granddaughter whose mother's maiden name is Frobenius. Legacy Froben's work in Basel made that city in the 16th century the leading center of the Swiss book trade. An existing letter of Erasmus, written in the year of Froben's death, gives an idea of his life and an estimate of his character; and in it Erasmus mentions that his grief for the death of his friend was far more distressing than that which he had felt for the loss of his own brother, adding that "all the apostles of science ought to wear mourning". The epistle concludes with an epitaph in Greek and Latin. He was well known for his Greek typeface, and he was also one of the first printers to have had their own Hebrew typeface. According to Beatus Rhenanus, who was one of his employees, he published only prominent works and despised the lesser ones. References External links 1460s births 1527 deaths People from Bad Kissingen (district) 16th-century Swiss