Untitled - Monoskop

DURATION OF PRIVILEGES
In the case of privileges granted by the Prevot of Paris, the Bailli of Rouen,
or simply 'par justice', the duration is known for sixty-seven. It is distributed
as follows:
Less than i year 1 1
1 year 1 2
2 years
1 5
3 years
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4 years 3
5 years or more o
Privileges for less than a year, some even for a few days, are the most
noticeable feature of the Prevot's grants, particularly for the first years of his
privilege-giving. They had never been given for such short periods by the
royal chancery or by the Paris Parlement. They may even have been more
numerous than the surviving evidence suggests, for they were sought to
protect ephemeral publications, some of which, in the nature of things, may
have perished altogether.
Privileges for two and three years granted by the Prevot appear for the first
time in 1516. They reflect a change of policy, apparently due to the new
Prevot, Gabriel d'Allegre, in welcoming literary and academic works of more
than passing interest. What purpose had the previous very short privileges
served?
The profits
to be expected from the sale of printed newsletters depended on
the publisher being ahead of possible competitors. By 1514 there are two fully
authenticated cases of privileges in such publications being obtained for a
period of eight days. Guillaume Sanxon was granted such a privilege for the
text of the newly concluded treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which had only
just been proclaimed in the court of the Prevot of Paris (PR 1514, 2), and
Guillaume Mart for an account of the very recent arrival of the English
princess, Mary Tudor, and her marriage to Louis XII at Abbeville (PR 1514,
3). Another eight-day privilege, which I presume to have been likewise
granted by the Prevot, was to appear in one of the accounts of the Field of the
Cloth of Gold (PR 1520, 7). Fifteen days were thought adequate for a
description of the coronation of Francis I at Reims (PR 1515, i).
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Six weeks
was the term given for the Entry into Paris of the queen (PR 1517, 4), by the
Prevot of Paris, and for the king's Entry into Rouen (PR 1517, 6), by the Bailli
of Rouen. Literary works which were closely linked with events of the moment
also tended to receive fairly short-term privileges. Pierre Gringo re, always
topical, advertised privileges for under a year (PR 1509, 3; PR 1510, 2).
Laurent Desmoulins had about four months for a Deploration on the death of
Anne of Brittany (PR 1514, i), and an anonymous author's eulogy on the
mother of the new king, Louise of Savoy, three months (PR 1515, 2). Where
every week, or in some cases every day, that passed might matter to the person
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