Brabant priest and schoolmaster. Dommelen near Valkenswaard (Noord-Brabant), 1522 - 's Hertogenbosch, 10 November 1598. Magister Artium at Louvain on 28 March 1545. Schoolmaster at the Chapter School of Hilvarenbeek (Noord-Brabant), c. 1550, he became some years later rector of the Thabor Convent in Malines. With the Calvinist rising in 1566 he started an errant life, until in 1582 or 1583 he settled down in's Hertogenbosch. There in 1589 he was appointed canon of the Cathedral Chapter of St. Jan and rector of the Chapter School. Of Verepaeus's numerous writings the Officina Plantiniana left aside the religious ones, to publish only his schoolmanuals on the Latin language. Cf. Biographie Nationale [de Belgique], 26, 1936-1938, Columns 604-610; M.A. Nauwelaerts, Simon Verepaeus, 1522-1598. Paedagoog der Contra-Reformatie, Tilburg, 1950 (Opvoedkundige brochurenreeks, no. 145); M.A. Nauwelaerts, 'Bijdrage tot de bibliographie van Simon Verepaeus' in De Gulden Passer, 25, 1947, pages 52-90; M.A. Nauwelaerts, 'De correspondentie van Simon Verepaeus met de Officina Plantiniana te Antwerpen' in De Gulden Passer, 36, 1958, pages 43-58; H. de Vocht, History of the Foundation and the Rise of the Collegium Trilingue Lovaniense, 1517-1550, I, 1951, pages 212-214, IV, 1955, pages 406-415.
II. Grammatices Despauterianae epitomes novae.
1- It is not very likely that, as presumed by Nauwelaerts, 'Bijdrage tot de bibliographie van S. Verepaeus', the summarized arrangements of Despauterius's Latin grammar, published by Plantin in 1571-72 and 1573-76, have been the work of Verepaeus (cf. under Despauterius). Verepaeus's adaptation of Despauterius's grammar was most probably printed by Plantin for the first time in 1578. -2- Like the older epitome of Despauterius's grammar printed by Plantin in 1571-72 and 1573-76, the Grammatices epitomes are presented in 4 'books' (I. Rudimenta; II. Etymologia; III. Syntaxis; IV. Prosodia), but with a Supplementum, forming 'book' V. These 5 volumes were in 1578 published each with a separate title-page but with a continuous pagination. However, as can be surmised from the catalogue of the Plantinian editions (M 296) they could be sold separately. They were re-issued (with amendments by Verepaeus) in the following years, with separate title-pages and with a continuous pagination, which remained, however, those of the first edition. This was probably done in order that the owners of older publications could mix them at pleasure with new acquisitions. For instance the copy in Museum Plantin-Moretus, O.B. 8.1, is formed by: I, 1581; II, 1586; III, 1586; IV, 1578; V, 1578. Copy Museum Plantin-Moretus, A 617, by: I, 1588; II, 1588; III, 1588; IV, 1586; V, 1578. Copy Heritage Library Hendrik Conscience Antwerp, C 10372, by: I, 1581; II, 1578; III, 1578; IV, 1578; V, 1578. Copy KBR Royal Library of Belgium, II. 7633, by: I, 1586; II, 1586; III, 1586, IV, 1586; V, 1578. -3- In a letter to de Çayas, 21 December 1585 (Corr., VII, no. 1056, page 244) Plantin underlines that this grammar was used in the schools run by the Jesuits in the Netherlands and Germany ('…celle de Verrepaeus [s'enseigne] en tous les colleges des Jesuittes par deça et en Allemagne'). -4- Not in RDB; references in Nauwelaerts, 'Bijdrage tot de bibliographie van S. Verepaeus'.