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Privilege granted to Germão Galharde (1530)

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Germão Galharde, a French printer working in Lisbon, the successor of Valentim Fernandes from 1519 onwards, was appointed printer of the royal household in 1530.In that same year a royal document determined that Germão may enjoy all privileges and freedoms enjoyed by the king's mechanical officers.

In 1539 Galharde went on to be granted the exclusive privilege, lasting ten years, to reprint a book (Cartilha) which was used to teach children authored by Dom Diogo Ortiz, Bishop of Viseu. 

He was also awarded the exclusive privilege, also lasting ten years, to print Repertório dos Tempos, by Spanish author André de Li, in Portuguese. According to Deslandes the latter was the first book to be printed in Coimbra and one of the rarest editions of the 16th century.

Thus, the printmaker was the subject in 1530 of a broad privilege to print, filled with general conditions and freedoms and later, in 1539,  he gots permission to print specific works.

Commentary by Victor Drummond & Translation by Patricia Akester  


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