Anna Rügerin, The First Female Typographer

"The truth has never been told about women in history: that everywhere a man has gone, woman has gone too, and what he has done, she has done also. Women are ignorant of their past and ignorant of their importance in that past." 
– Pearl S. Buck

Anna Rügerin, credited as the first female typographer, inscribed her name into the colophon of a book in 1484. A colophon was a publisher's emblem or imprint, especially one on the title page or spine of a book. She was a remarkable woman for her time she printed two books with the printing press that she owned in Augsburg, Germany; less than twenty years after the arrival of the movable type printing press, which was invented in 1439. In the 15th century, women had very few career opportunities, and women were not permitted to attend university. 

The first of Rügerin's known books is an edition of Eike of Repgow's compendium of customary law, the Sachsenspiegel, dated 22 June 1484. The Sachsenspiegel, written in the 13th century, was the first major work of German prose. The second book was an edition of the Formulare und deutsch rhetorica, a manual of instructions for the editing of official documents and of letters, printed on 29 July 1484.

Upon the death of her husband Thomas Rüger, history remembers that Anna took full possession of the print shop. Johann Schönsperger likely helped Anna Rügerin (who had inherited Rüger's press) to make her first printing so it’s obvious printing was a family affair for the first female typographer of our times.  

Anna used the Gothic type (Type 1:120G) of Johann Schönsperger for both of her book prints and continued using it until 1492. Interestingly enough, Schönsperger was Anna's brother.  Although not much is known about Anna's later life, Anna paved the way for women to be involved in the production of books and is remembered as the first female typographer.