Untitled - Monoskop

FAIR RETURN, AND OTHER ARGUMENTS
FAIR RETURN FOR EXPENDITURE OF TIME, SKILL AND MONEY,
AND OTHER ARGUMENTS
Authors
To deal first with applications made by authors, the following extract from the
Letters Patent granted by Louis XII to Eloi d'Amerval (CH 1508, i), the
earliest French privilege obtained by an author of which the full text is known,
probably reflects what Eloi had said in his requete:
He has made and composed a fine book treating of sundry merry, diverting and
profitable matters concerning the way of life of each estate of society, which book is
entitled Eloi's Show of Devils, in making and composing the which book the said
petitioner has thereon employed and spent a great deal of time and expended a large
portion of his substance. For this reason, both to communicate the said book to those
who shall desire to see it and to profit by it, and also to recover and retrieve part ofwhat
it has cost him to make it and compose it, he would gladly have the said book printed,
he only and no one else, until such time as it shall please us, if it were our pleasure to
give him leave and licence to do so and to impart to him in this matter our grace and
liberality. 1
The economic considerations which Eloi had evidently put forward were to
remain uppermost in most requests for privileges, whether by authors or
publishers. The interests of both are represented in the next privilege sought
by an author (CH 1509, i), that of the lawyer Nicole Bohier. For Bohier,
planning to publish a whole group or 'package' of works composed or edited
by himself, sought a grant in favour of a particular publisher, Simon Vincent
of Lyon, with whom he was in fact to work for many years in a harmonious
symbiosis. He began indeed by emphasising the expenditure of his own time
and labour on the works, as Eloi had done.('il s'est aplicque et employe temps
a faire, diter et rediger par escript certains livres') and his eagerness to have
them printed so that, in the words of the Letters Patent, 'son dit ouvraige soyt
communique tant a noz subgetz que a aultres qui auront vouloyr et desir de
iceulx veoyr et visiter'. He then reported the misgivings of his prospective
publisher on the subject of possible unauthorised reprints:
ledit Symon Vincent libraire dessusdit a dit et remonstre audit Boyer nostredit
conseillier que pour ce que incontinent apres que il auroit faict imprimer lesdis livres
ausquels comme diet est conviendra mettre et employer le sien: aulcuns aultres
1
II a fait et compose ung beau livre le quel traicte de plusieurs plaisantes recreatives et
profitables ma'tieres touchant la maniere de vivre en chascun estat. Leque livre est intitule la
deablerie de eloy. En faisant et composant lequelt [sic] livre ledit suppliant y a employe et vaque
grande espace de temps fraye et despendu grant partie de sa substance. A ceste cause tant a fin
de communiquer le dit livre a ceulx qui auront desir de le veoir et d'y prouffiter que pour
recouvrer et retirer partie de ce qu'il luy a couste a faire et il composer feroit voulentiers
imprimer ledit livre luy seul et non autre jusques a tel temps qu'il nous plaira. Si nostre plaisir
estoit luy donner conge et licence de ce faire. Et nostre grace et liberalite sur ce luy impartir.
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