Johann Fust (bornc. 1400,Mainz [Germany]—died Oct. 30, 1466,Paris, France) was an early German printer, financial backer of JohannGutenberg (the inventor ofprinting in Europe), and founder, withPeter Schoeffer, of the first commercially successful printing firm.

Fust, a prominent goldsmith, lent Gutenberg 800 guilders in 1450 to perfect his movable-type printing process. An additional 800 guilders was lent about two years later. Gutenberg’s42-line Bible and his 1457Psalter were almost finished, but Fust sued in 1455 for 2,026 guilders to recover his money with interest. The court found in Fust’s favour, and Gutenberg lost his invention and equipment.

With Schoeffer, who was one of Fust’switnesses in the lawsuit, Fust set up his own printing firm and published the 42-line Bible in 1456. The Psalter, the first example ofcolour printing, with superb red-ink printing and two-colour initials, was finished in 1457. Fust’s firm published further works, notably a Benedictine Psalter (1459),Clement V’sConstitutiones, orClementinae (1460), the 48-line Bible (1462), andCicero’sDe officiis (1465), the first classical text ever printed.