Untitled - Monoskop

TWO OR MORE BOOKS; PACKAGE PRIVILEGES
mentioned is the Sermones dominicales . Two
earlier works by Guillaume Pepin
however display the same privilege granted to Chevallon on 29 August 1519;
the Super confiteor (24 September 1519) and the Rosarium aureum mysicum (18
January 1520 n.s.), with very small variations easily accounted for by the
compositor's haste or carelessness, e.g. Super confiteor omits the words 'vendre
ne faire vendre' the first time. The same privilege appears in Chevallon's
edition of Michel Menot's Defedere etpace inuenda (1519), and in the copies (of
which only one survives) issued in Chevallon's name ofArmand de Bellevue's
Sermones ex Psalterio, a joint publication by Chevallon, Josse Badius and Jean
Le Messier (the printer of it) in 1519, both these books probably dating from
the months following the grant of the privilege which would according to Old
Style dating still be 1519 until Easter. The inclusion of five books in the same
privilege is thus evident. This and a clause 'a commencer du jour que ledit
livre sera acheve de imprimer', allowing Chevallon to reckon the duration
from the publication-date of each book, enabled him to spread out the use of
the privilege over almost four years (PA 1519, 4), making this the nearest
approach to a 'package' privilege to be granted by the Parlement.
No 'package' privileges are known to have been granted during this period
by the Prevot of Paris. Possibly the officials of theprevote thought them a favour
which only the royal chancery could confer. Possibly applicants feared to rely
on the Prevot for such a long-term commitment, knowing that the holder of
the office and his lieutenants could be removed at any time by the king and
replaced by someone else who might take a different view of such grants.
There is indeed only one certain instance of the Prevot granting a privilege for
even two separate works (PR 1526, 2) and a possible instance of a privilege for
three works (PR 1523, i).
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