Untitled - Monoskop

GROUNDS FOR SEEKING AND GRANTING PRIVILEGES
libraries pourroyent semblablement: iceulx reimprimer: ledit Symon
pourroyt recouvrer ne soy
satisfaire de ses ditz fraiz et mises. 1
Vincent ne
And in response the Letters Patent duly noted the expenditure of Bohier's
time upon the composition of the books ('pour consideration qu'il a prins et
employez son temps a faire, diter, rediger et construire lesdicts livres') and
also recognised that Vincent should be enabled to recover his expenses
('desirans a ceste cause qu'il se puisse rembourcer desdictz fraiz, mises et
impenses').
The petition of Jean Lemaire de Beiges for the first book of Les illustrations de
Gaule et singularitez. de Troye (CH 1509, 2) on the other hand, was to ensure a
fair return for his own labours and expenses ('a ce que ledit exposant puisse
estre recompense de ses paines, salaires, labeurs, coustz et mises qu'il a faictes
a compiler iceulx livres'). Lemaire, who was a man of fame and wealth, had
indeed clearly paid for the printing himself: the formula . . . 'Imprime pour
maistre Jan Lemaire Indiciaire et historiographe de la Royne'
in Book i
indicates this, and in the Traictie intitule de la difference des scismes of 1511 the
printer says, 'Pour maistreJan le Maire Indiciaire et historiographe. Expensis
propriis.' The outlay of which Lemaire spoke must also have included the
expenditure of his time and skill, the purchase of books, possibly the
employment of a secretary, and so forth. The Letters Patent obtained by
Guillaume Michel de Tours from the Prevot of Paris for La forest de conscience
(PR 1516, 2) refer specifically to the author having borne the cost of printing
('En composant lequel livre ledit Guillaume Michel diet avoir employe
beaucoup de son temps et fraye de grans deniers pour le papier, fagon et
impression'). The privilege granted by the Parlement of Toulouse to Etienne
Chenu refers only in general terms to the arguments he had used in his petition
(PA 151 7, 5), but there is a formal declaration printed in his book that he had
both corrected it and paid for the printing ('correctum est autem hoc . . . opus
per me ipsum Stephanum Chanuti huius operis authorem, et sumptu proprio
caracteribus impressoriis redactum' (f. j 2 V
)), and it seems unlikely that he
would have failed to include this in his requete. Pierre Gringore had even had
illustrations specially made for Les fantasies de mere Sotte, twenty-eight of them
in fact, and this fact figured prominently in his Letters Patent:
il s'est applicque a ditter et composer ung livre intitule les fantasies de mere sotte ou il a
vacque par long temps / et tant en ce faisant que aussi a faire pourtraire et tailler
plusieurs hystoires pour la decoration dudit livre conformes aux matieres contenues en
icelluy (CH 1516,3)
A privilege granted to Drjean Falcon for Les notables sur le Guidon (CH 1515,
i A) recalls his main point as having been his fear that, once published, his
book might be printed by any merchant or bookseller who wished to do so,
from the printed text of Bohier's privilege I have corrected the following misprints:
'Vnicent' for Vincent, 'se' for ses, and 'employer' for employez or employe.
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