PIERRE BOAISTUAU - eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

stages of production. 302 Many printers were learned men with humanist interests, such
as Aldus Manutius and the Estiennes. The role of the printer was often merged with
that of the publisher. For example, in the second half of the sixteenth century, most of
the big firms operating in Paris were owned by printer-publishers, such as the Marnef
brothers. 303 Publishing at the time was not an independent enterprise, but was often
associated with the business of selling books. For this purpose, book lists, handbills
and sales catalogues were printed in an attempt to advertise new products and expand
clientele. Publishers even followed strategies in pursuit of bigger profits. For example,
Michel Simonin’s study of the well-known Parisian publisher Vincent Sertenas
reveals a proper commercial interest in publishing a wide range of books (including
Boaistuau’s) which would satisfy the readers’ taste and thus guarantee the printing of
subsequent editions. 304 In addition to publishers, editors are another category which
needs to be mentioned in its own right. They were usually employed by publishers
and printers, but less frequently by writers, for a variety of reasons. 305 They were
asked to proofread a text, add a supplement, a new commentary or a glossary, and
generally to improve the readability of a text. According to their skills, they could edit
Latin or vernacular texts, or both, and employed a variety of techniques. 306 As will be
302 For an insight in the workshop of one of the most celebrated printers see Clair, C., Christopher
Plantin (Cassell, 1960); Voet, L., The Golden Compasses: A History and Evaluation of the Printing
and Publishing Activities of the Officina Plantiniana at Antwerp, 2 vols (Amsterdam, 1969-72).
303 Pettegree, A., Walsby, M., Wilkinson, A. S. (eds), French Vernacular Books (Leiden, 2007), p. xi:
‘The relationship between the printer and publisher/bookseller is often easier to discern in the first half
of the century, when it was usual to include further publishing details at the end of the text (the
colophon)’.
304 Simonin, M., ‘Peut-on parler de politique éditoriale au XVIe siècle? Le cas de Vincent Sertenas,
libraire du palais’, in L’encre et la lumière (Geneva, 2004), pp. 761-782. Sertenas, a royal publisher
active between 1534 and 1562, had obtained a privilege for the publication of all of Boaistuau’s books.
Among them, Histoires tragiques and Le Théâtre du monde were contained in Sertenas’ catalogues as
two of his most successful titles.
305 As shown earlier, in some cases writers actively corrected their own texts – as did Boaistuau.
Printers also paid literati to work for them as editors; for instance, the Parisian Josse Bade had
employed Lefèvre d’Etaples and Guillaume Budé; similarly, Sebastian Gryphius in Lyon used the
services of François Rabelais, Clement Marot and Etienne Dolet.
306 For a first insight in Renaissance editing see Richardson, B., Print Culture in Renaissance Italy: the
Editor and the Vernacular Text, 1470-1600 (Cambridge, 1994).
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