Browse Documents By...
Original Language...
Documents For...
Browse Commentaries By...
Browse Referred Persons By...
Frankfurt Printers' Ordinance, Frankfurt (1660)
Source: Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt Ffm W 554
Citation:
Frankfurt Printers' Ordinance, Frankfurt (1660), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
Back | Record | Images | Commentaries: [1]
Translation only | Transcription only | Show all | Bundled images as pdf
8 translated pages
Chapter 1 Page 1
New
Regulation and
Statutes
Enacted by a worthy and most wise Council
of the City of Frankfurt-on-the-Main /
As to what is to be adhered to
henceforth by the printing-offices
of this city.
[City-arms of
Frankfurt]
Printed and published in the year
1660
after the merciful birth of
Jesus Christ.
Chapter 1 Page 2
New Book printers' Regulation
of a worthy and most wise Council
of the City of Frankfurt.
We, the Council of this Free City
of the Holy Roman Empire, Frankfurt, / have
hitherto had occasion twice - namely, in 1573 and 1593
- to consider and publish all ordinances and statutes
which, having been called for in various circumstances,
were supposed to lay down what was to be observed by all
the printing-offices of this city. However, in the meanwhile We have
found / that the number of printing-offices here has increased considerably
and markedly, / as a result of which the number of printers and journeymen too
has also gone up since then / and from time to time all kinds of doubtful
tensions and confusions have arisen amongst them / which couldn't always be
resolved properly by our mayors / when they applied the aforesaid Printing
Regulation. We have therefore deemed it necessary
to once again turn our hand to the old Printing Regulation, /
to examine it, / bring it up to date, / clarify various passages and
cases which appear in it, / and make amendments to it. And We want / this new
Regulation of ours to henceforth hold immutably and firmly / in all of our city's
printing-offices, / and that no one should act against it, /
on pain of incurring the fines specified therein, / which in each case
are to be paid immediately by the offenders. For which purpose there shall
always be two superintendents, elected from amongst the book printers themselves,
/ who are to be induced into their obligations by the members of our Council appointed for this task
and will take an oath
Chapter 1 Page 3
New Printing Regulation
/ pledging themselves to observe above all the principles of
decency, / honesty, and this our Regulation, / and that they will see to it /
that others too adhere obediently to the latter, /
and that any violators of it, irrespective of who they may be, / are
named at the next session / and made to pay the required penalty.
Of these two superintendents, every year the older one of the two
is to resign on the feast day of St John the Baptist / and someone else
is to be elected to take his place.
Concerning the printing-offices, / publishers, / printers
and journeymen, in general.
First of all: since everyone must surely recognise /
that the praiseworthy art of printing is a special grace
and gift of God - / for thanks to it, not only is it
the Word of God [i.e. the Bible] which can be brought to light /
but also all the liberal arts and many
good things which are necessary for human life, /
and which after coming to light in this way have not ceased to bear new fruits
- it is only reasonable that for such work and business / honest persons
of whom no one has ever spoken ill are given preference over all other
artisans / and employed in this trade. They are subsequently also to endeavour to conduct
themselves sensibly, modestly, and honestly in their ways and doings -
/ both inside and outside of the printing-works, / so that not only
is God honoured / but every such person has no need to fear for his own part
any malicious and punishable slandering, and then the dishonourable conduct
of one or the other printer / cannot bring the rest of the guild
into disrepute.
Since the constitutions and laws of the Holy Empire
enjoin and prohibit each and every one of the estates, / and consequently the
printers first and foremost, / from secretly or publicly printing any infamous
libellous or insulting works, / as well as from selling any such works that have
been printed elsewhere, We would herewith like to earnestly remind and admonish /
each and every printer and printer's assistant - / as has been done on a number of occasions already - /
by means of repeating the earlier
Chapter 1 Page 4
and Statutes
edicts / and the punishments stipulated in these, /
to obediently observe these directives of the Holy Empire
and never to act against them, / on pain of the penalties
specified therein (including corporal punishment, in particular),
/ the severity of which We, the Council, / are herewith entitled
to increase / depending on the circumstances.
And, in general, we herewith order all printers
and publishers that each time / they would like to publish an
edition of / treatises and books – / both new and old ones – / they do
indeed proceed / to edit the works as they intended / and then, first of all,
deliver them [the proofs of the planned editions] to our Council’s Chancellery, / where
they will be examined, / and then, after this censorship has taken place, that
they have the authorisation or privilege actually recorded on the outside [of the work]
both for their own information and that of others, / once again
on pain of a corporal punishment, / which each and every violator
of this statute – / printers and publishers alike – / is inexorably
liable to.
Since We, the Council, have in the past, but especially
in recent times, come across a lot of complaining going on amongst
printers and publishers on account of reprinting and for other reasons,
We have rightly had occasion / to reflect on
how such complaints / cannot but become more frequent in future, /
and how, then, the printers are to live together in peace and harmony, /
without seeking their livelihood at the expense of one or the other colleague;
We herewith decree and lay down that / all printers / and publishers / living here
at present, / and every one of them in particular, / as well as any
that may establish themselves here in future, / are to scrupulously observe
this [statute], / on pain of earnest, / unrelenting monetary or corporal
punishment, / depending on the nature of the infringement, / being imposed on the offender – /
may all printers and publishers comply with this / and thereby avoid coming to grief!
First of all, no book printer is allowed to reprint, / in whatever way one
might devise and attempt, / those books or authors – / irrespective of the importance or fame of the latter, /
and not excluding anything, / that is, scholarly works too – /
which another printer has so far been the only one to print /
or which
Chapter 1 Page 5
New Printing Regulation
he may print in future. / The different ways in which
a reprint might be attempted are as follows: / a reprinter might
use a different page size or title, indicate as the author the name of
someone else, arrange for new or different summaries, remove or
add scholia [marginal notes], and any other way in which he might seek to
deceive [as to the true nature of what he is doing]. / Therefore, none of these resorts is to be / tolerated or permitted.
Now, if someone has so far been printing, / or might happen
to do so in future, / a particular book without having a privilege for it, /
and another printer, / being unaware of this / (for he would not have the right to
do so deliberately), were subsequently to obtain a privilege for it, / he would
not have to invoke that privilege, being henceforth entitled (regardless of
such a privilege) / to republish / and reprint here / those books /
which the first printer had until then been the only one to print, or might have
happened to do so in future.
In the case of books that have been printed here by a local printer, /
no one is to be allowed / to secretly publish them / in a different place,
to the detriment of this city, / and then to bring here the copies published by
such means, / so as to sell them here / under someone else’s name / but
to his own profit. Rather, if someone is convicted of this, /
he is to be punished severely for this offence. /
Or if there are strong reasons to suspect someone of acting in this way, /
that person is obliged to take an oath of innocence, / should the
other party request this.
Furthermore, in the case / that the author himself, or someone else, /
should decide to modify, / expand, etc. / a book which had been printed here /
and would like to have the modified or expanded version of the book printed
here too, no printer other than the one who carried out the first impression of
the book / is to have the right to accept for printing this new version. /
It may, of course, happen / that the printer / who had brought out the first
version of the book / does not want to print the new version that is offered to
him (that is why this offer must take place in the presence of credible
witnesses: / namely, so that there can be no subsequent disagreement as to
whether the offer was made or not).
Chapter 1 Page 6
and Statutes
In such a case, anyone else is definitely entitled to undertake to print
the new version. / However, if the person / who was previously the only one
publishing this book / still has in stock more than a hundred copies of the old
version, / the printer / who has undertaken to bring out the new version / is to
suspend its printing / until the old copies have been sold / or until he himself
buys them all up for a reasonable price.
Similarly, all printers and publishers are herewith earnestly
forbidden / to try to entice away the writers or authors whose works are being
brought out by another printer, / or to try to secure these authors' future
writings, / to the detriment of that colleague in the printing profession, /
by offering a higher fee, / or by any other secret or open means, /
on pain of a discretionary punishment / which is to be imposed each time
that the present statute is violated.
Now, if a printer who has so far been the only one to bring out the works of one or several
authors / and who has had no trouble in selling all copies of his editions
except for a hundred [or less] copies in each case, / does not subsequently,
within two years [after the successful sale of the first edition], re-publish those very authors or books,
and inquiries about this are made by foreign booksellers attending the fairs, /
another printer may then with full right, / in the presence of trustworthy
persons, / ask / the printer of the first edition of these books / whether he
intends to republish them, / or whether he is willing to let him print them
instead. In such a case, the printer / to whom specific authors or books have
hitherto appertained, is obliged / either to republish them himself, /
or to allow / the first person / who asks him for this /
to print as many copies of these works as he himself had published earlier, /
whereby he must then not attempt to republish them for his part / until,
and provided that, the other printer has managed to sell without any trouble so
many of his new copies that there are just a hundred or less left.
Since, moreover, it frequently happens / that two printers unknowingly
deliver the same new works to our Chancellery, to have them censored, / henceforth
the one / who was the first to submit the new work / shall have
the right to be its sole printer, / and he is not obliged / to enter into, say,
association [with the other printer who had submitted the same work for censorship later] /
or any other kind of agreement.
Chapter 1 Page 7
New Printing Regulation
No book printer shall henceforth put on his books the following words: /
“Cum gratia & privilegio, &c.” [“With the grace and privilege of…”] or, likewise:
/ “With an Imperial privilege forbidding any reprinting of this book”, / or suchlike, /
unless he actually does hold such a privilege. If this is the case and he does have a privilege, /
he must print / the text of this privilege, / in all its entirety /
or at least the substantial part of it, / on the uppermost leaf of the book, /
namely, on its reverse side; / or, failing this, he must provide this Council
with the original of the privilege / so that authentic copies may be
made of it. / Whosoever acts in contravention of this, / shall forfeit
his privilege.
No book printer is to deliver any book to our Council’s
Chancellery / that he does not intend to start printing within no more six months
after its submission for censorship. / If he allows this period to lapse / and
fails to start printing even in the following six months, / any other printer
is then entitled / to print this book.
Furthermore, in order that the number of printers does not become too high, /
We, the aforementioned Council, have decided that / henceforth no printers /
(especially those who haven’t learnt this art properly) or publishers will be
tolerated / other than those / who are currently resident here and are citizens [of Frankfurt]. /
Apart from these, no one else is in future to venture to print / or publish
anything / unless he has the express permission of the honourable Council, /
on pain of earnest, unrelenting punishment / and loss
of all his printing equipment.
All of our book printers, / and the number of printing-presses owned by each,
/ are to be entered into a register, / and no one is to have the right
to install any new presses / except where an old press is no longer usable
and has been dismantled. / Rather, if someone would like to expand his printing-
office by the addition of one or more printing-presses, / he is obliged to
purchase, for a reasonable price, this ‘right of press’ from another printer: /
such transactions are to be carefully recorded, / that is, the new number of
printing-presses owned by each of the two parties respectively after such a deal
will be entered into the register. / If it should happen / that someone / who owns
a printing-office / would like to entrust one or more of his printing-presses / to a son or a son-in-law,
Chapter 1 Page 8
and Statutes
he has full right to do so, / as long as, in accordance with what was said above,
/ the relevant entries in the register of printing-presses
are adjusted or made.
As for widows / who own printing-offices left to them by their
deceased husbands, / they are well entitled to continue running them, / both in
widowhood and if they should happen to marry again – / provided that
the second husband [and administrator (Ehevogt) of her property] has learnt the
printer’s trade and is a citizen [of Frankfurt]. / However, if such widows should
marry persons who do not belong to the printing profession, / they are to be
considered incapable of [carrying on the business by themselves] / and are obliged
to put a steward in charge of the printing-office.
Foreign journeymen, / be they printers or compositors, /
who have been taken on to work here, are to make themselves known forthwith
to our mayors in the Römer,* / at the usual
hour on the first Monday after their arrival at the city, and, / in accordance
with what has always been customary practice with other unmarried travelling
journeymen, / they are to take an oath in front of our mayors. / Such journeymen,
/ even if they have their board and residence outside the houses of the master
printers for whom they are working, / are to be informed of this ceremony
by the latter, who will also lead them to the Römer. / If they should fail to
observe this, they will not be tolerated here in our city.
For each printing-press they own and require in their office, / master
printers are to deposit 4 pfennigs a week – and every journeyman for his part, 2
pfennigs a week – / which funds are to be used to support those [members of the
profession] who fall ill and are thereby left hard up, / as well as to cover
any funeral costs. / This duty is to be collected by the printers themselves /
and handed over for safekeeping at each new session [of the Council].
However, since it has come to our notice on a number of occasions / that some
journeymen, / relying, more out of recklessness than out of true necessity,
on the assistance they can claim [from the sick fund], / squander and fritter away
in careless fashion / what they have earned through their work, / and then start
borrowing money / and claiming assistance from the fund, / it is our will and
earnest decision / that henceforth no journeyman is to receive support from the
fund / unless in all his previous ways and doings he has conducted himself so well
and irreproachably / that he is able to present credible testimonials to this
effect / from those master printers for whom he has previously worked.
_________________________
* The famous city hall of Frankfurt
Translation by: Luis A. Sundkvist (pp.1-8)
Source: Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt Ffm W 554
Citation:
Frankfurt Printers' Ordinance, Frankfurt (1660), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
Back | Record | Images | Commentaries: [1]
Translation only | Transcription only | Show all | Bundled images as pdf
8 translated pages
Chapter 1 Page 1
New
Regulation and
Statutes
Enacted by a worthy and most wise Council
of the City of Frankfurt-on-the-Main /
As to what is to be adhered to
henceforth by the printing-offices
of this city.
[City-arms of
Frankfurt]
Printed and published in the year
1660
after the merciful birth of
Jesus Christ.
Chapter 1 Page 2
New Book printers' Regulation
of a worthy and most wise Council
of the City of Frankfurt.
We, the Council of this Free City
of the Holy Roman Empire, Frankfurt, / have
hitherto had occasion twice - namely, in 1573 and 1593
- to consider and publish all ordinances and statutes
which, having been called for in various circumstances,
were supposed to lay down what was to be observed by all
the printing-offices of this city. However, in the meanwhile We have
found / that the number of printing-offices here has increased considerably
and markedly, / as a result of which the number of printers and journeymen too
has also gone up since then / and from time to time all kinds of doubtful
tensions and confusions have arisen amongst them / which couldn't always be
resolved properly by our mayors / when they applied the aforesaid Printing
Regulation. We have therefore deemed it necessary
to once again turn our hand to the old Printing Regulation, /
to examine it, / bring it up to date, / clarify various passages and
cases which appear in it, / and make amendments to it. And We want / this new
Regulation of ours to henceforth hold immutably and firmly / in all of our city's
printing-offices, / and that no one should act against it, /
on pain of incurring the fines specified therein, / which in each case
are to be paid immediately by the offenders. For which purpose there shall
always be two superintendents, elected from amongst the book printers themselves,
/ who are to be induced into their obligations by the members of our Council appointed for this task
and will take an oath
Chapter 1 Page 3
/ pledging themselves to observe above all the principles of
decency, / honesty, and this our Regulation, / and that they will see to it /
that others too adhere obediently to the latter, /
and that any violators of it, irrespective of who they may be, / are
named at the next session / and made to pay the required penalty.
Of these two superintendents, every year the older one of the two
is to resign on the feast day of St John the Baptist / and someone else
is to be elected to take his place.
Concerning the printing-offices, / publishers, / printers
and journeymen, in general.
First of all: since everyone must surely recognise /
that the praiseworthy art of printing is a special grace
and gift of God - / for thanks to it, not only is it
the Word of God [i.e. the Bible] which can be brought to light /
but also all the liberal arts and many
good things which are necessary for human life, /
and which after coming to light in this way have not ceased to bear new fruits
- it is only reasonable that for such work and business / honest persons
of whom no one has ever spoken ill are given preference over all other
artisans / and employed in this trade. They are subsequently also to endeavour to conduct
themselves sensibly, modestly, and honestly in their ways and doings -
/ both inside and outside of the printing-works, / so that not only
is God honoured / but every such person has no need to fear for his own part
any malicious and punishable slandering, and then the dishonourable conduct
of one or the other printer / cannot bring the rest of the guild
into disrepute.
Since the constitutions and laws of the Holy Empire
enjoin and prohibit each and every one of the estates, / and consequently the
printers first and foremost, / from secretly or publicly printing any infamous
libellous or insulting works, / as well as from selling any such works that have
been printed elsewhere, We would herewith like to earnestly remind and admonish /
each and every printer and printer's assistant - / as has been done on a number of occasions already - /
by means of repeating the earlier
Chapter 1 Page 4
edicts / and the punishments stipulated in these, /
to obediently observe these directives of the Holy Empire
and never to act against them, / on pain of the penalties
specified therein (including corporal punishment, in particular),
/ the severity of which We, the Council, / are herewith entitled
to increase / depending on the circumstances.
And, in general, we herewith order all printers
and publishers that each time / they would like to publish an
edition of / treatises and books – / both new and old ones – / they do
indeed proceed / to edit the works as they intended / and then, first of all,
deliver them [the proofs of the planned editions] to our Council’s Chancellery, / where
they will be examined, / and then, after this censorship has taken place, that
they have the authorisation or privilege actually recorded on the outside [of the work]
both for their own information and that of others, / once again
on pain of a corporal punishment, / which each and every violator
of this statute – / printers and publishers alike – / is inexorably
liable to.
Since We, the Council, have in the past, but especially
in recent times, come across a lot of complaining going on amongst
printers and publishers on account of reprinting and for other reasons,
We have rightly had occasion / to reflect on
how such complaints / cannot but become more frequent in future, /
and how, then, the printers are to live together in peace and harmony, /
without seeking their livelihood at the expense of one or the other colleague;
We herewith decree and lay down that / all printers / and publishers / living here
at present, / and every one of them in particular, / as well as any
that may establish themselves here in future, / are to scrupulously observe
this [statute], / on pain of earnest, / unrelenting monetary or corporal
punishment, / depending on the nature of the infringement, / being imposed on the offender – /
may all printers and publishers comply with this / and thereby avoid coming to grief!
First of all, no book printer is allowed to reprint, / in whatever way one
might devise and attempt, / those books or authors – / irrespective of the importance or fame of the latter, /
and not excluding anything, / that is, scholarly works too – /
which another printer has so far been the only one to print /
or which
Chapter 1 Page 5
he may print in future. / The different ways in which
a reprint might be attempted are as follows: / a reprinter might
use a different page size or title, indicate as the author the name of
someone else, arrange for new or different summaries, remove or
add scholia [marginal notes], and any other way in which he might seek to
deceive [as to the true nature of what he is doing]. / Therefore, none of these resorts is to be / tolerated or permitted.
Now, if someone has so far been printing, / or might happen
to do so in future, / a particular book without having a privilege for it, /
and another printer, / being unaware of this / (for he would not have the right to
do so deliberately), were subsequently to obtain a privilege for it, / he would
not have to invoke that privilege, being henceforth entitled (regardless of
such a privilege) / to republish / and reprint here / those books /
which the first printer had until then been the only one to print, or might have
happened to do so in future.
In the case of books that have been printed here by a local printer, /
no one is to be allowed / to secretly publish them / in a different place,
to the detriment of this city, / and then to bring here the copies published by
such means, / so as to sell them here / under someone else’s name / but
to his own profit. Rather, if someone is convicted of this, /
he is to be punished severely for this offence. /
Or if there are strong reasons to suspect someone of acting in this way, /
that person is obliged to take an oath of innocence, / should the
other party request this.
Furthermore, in the case / that the author himself, or someone else, /
should decide to modify, / expand, etc. / a book which had been printed here /
and would like to have the modified or expanded version of the book printed
here too, no printer other than the one who carried out the first impression of
the book / is to have the right to accept for printing this new version. /
It may, of course, happen / that the printer / who had brought out the first
version of the book / does not want to print the new version that is offered to
him (that is why this offer must take place in the presence of credible
witnesses: / namely, so that there can be no subsequent disagreement as to
whether the offer was made or not).
Chapter 1 Page 6
In such a case, anyone else is definitely entitled to undertake to print
the new version. / However, if the person / who was previously the only one
publishing this book / still has in stock more than a hundred copies of the old
version, / the printer / who has undertaken to bring out the new version / is to
suspend its printing / until the old copies have been sold / or until he himself
buys them all up for a reasonable price.
Similarly, all printers and publishers are herewith earnestly
forbidden / to try to entice away the writers or authors whose works are being
brought out by another printer, / or to try to secure these authors' future
writings, / to the detriment of that colleague in the printing profession, /
by offering a higher fee, / or by any other secret or open means, /
on pain of a discretionary punishment / which is to be imposed each time
that the present statute is violated.
Now, if a printer who has so far been the only one to bring out the works of one or several
authors / and who has had no trouble in selling all copies of his editions
except for a hundred [or less] copies in each case, / does not subsequently,
within two years [after the successful sale of the first edition], re-publish those very authors or books,
and inquiries about this are made by foreign booksellers attending the fairs, /
another printer may then with full right, / in the presence of trustworthy
persons, / ask / the printer of the first edition of these books / whether he
intends to republish them, / or whether he is willing to let him print them
instead. In such a case, the printer / to whom specific authors or books have
hitherto appertained, is obliged / either to republish them himself, /
or to allow / the first person / who asks him for this /
to print as many copies of these works as he himself had published earlier, /
whereby he must then not attempt to republish them for his part / until,
and provided that, the other printer has managed to sell without any trouble so
many of his new copies that there are just a hundred or less left.
Since, moreover, it frequently happens / that two printers unknowingly
deliver the same new works to our Chancellery, to have them censored, / henceforth
the one / who was the first to submit the new work / shall have
the right to be its sole printer, / and he is not obliged / to enter into, say,
association [with the other printer who had submitted the same work for censorship later] /
or any other kind of agreement.
Chapter 1 Page 7
No book printer shall henceforth put on his books the following words: /
“Cum gratia & privilegio, &c.” [“With the grace and privilege of…”] or, likewise:
/ “With an Imperial privilege forbidding any reprinting of this book”, / or suchlike, /
unless he actually does hold such a privilege. If this is the case and he does have a privilege, /
he must print / the text of this privilege, / in all its entirety /
or at least the substantial part of it, / on the uppermost leaf of the book, /
namely, on its reverse side; / or, failing this, he must provide this Council
with the original of the privilege / so that authentic copies may be
made of it. / Whosoever acts in contravention of this, / shall forfeit
his privilege.
No book printer is to deliver any book to our Council’s
Chancellery / that he does not intend to start printing within no more six months
after its submission for censorship. / If he allows this period to lapse / and
fails to start printing even in the following six months, / any other printer
is then entitled / to print this book.
Furthermore, in order that the number of printers does not become too high, /
We, the aforementioned Council, have decided that / henceforth no printers /
(especially those who haven’t learnt this art properly) or publishers will be
tolerated / other than those / who are currently resident here and are citizens [of Frankfurt]. /
Apart from these, no one else is in future to venture to print / or publish
anything / unless he has the express permission of the honourable Council, /
on pain of earnest, unrelenting punishment / and loss
of all his printing equipment.
All of our book printers, / and the number of printing-presses owned by each,
/ are to be entered into a register, / and no one is to have the right
to install any new presses / except where an old press is no longer usable
and has been dismantled. / Rather, if someone would like to expand his printing-
office by the addition of one or more printing-presses, / he is obliged to
purchase, for a reasonable price, this ‘right of press’ from another printer: /
such transactions are to be carefully recorded, / that is, the new number of
printing-presses owned by each of the two parties respectively after such a deal
will be entered into the register. / If it should happen / that someone / who owns
a printing-office / would like to entrust one or more of his printing-presses / to a son or a son-in-law,
Chapter 1 Page 8
he has full right to do so, / as long as, in accordance with what was said above,
/ the relevant entries in the register of printing-presses
are adjusted or made.
As for widows / who own printing-offices left to them by their
deceased husbands, / they are well entitled to continue running them, / both in
widowhood and if they should happen to marry again – / provided that
the second husband [and administrator (Ehevogt) of her property] has learnt the
printer’s trade and is a citizen [of Frankfurt]. / However, if such widows should
marry persons who do not belong to the printing profession, / they are to be
considered incapable of [carrying on the business by themselves] / and are obliged
to put a steward in charge of the printing-office.
Foreign journeymen, / be they printers or compositors, /
who have been taken on to work here, are to make themselves known forthwith
to our mayors in the Römer,* / at the usual
hour on the first Monday after their arrival at the city, and, / in accordance
with what has always been customary practice with other unmarried travelling
journeymen, / they are to take an oath in front of our mayors. / Such journeymen,
/ even if they have their board and residence outside the houses of the master
printers for whom they are working, / are to be informed of this ceremony
by the latter, who will also lead them to the Römer. / If they should fail to
observe this, they will not be tolerated here in our city.
For each printing-press they own and require in their office, / master
printers are to deposit 4 pfennigs a week – and every journeyman for his part, 2
pfennigs a week – / which funds are to be used to support those [members of the
profession] who fall ill and are thereby left hard up, / as well as to cover
any funeral costs. / This duty is to be collected by the printers themselves /
and handed over for safekeeping at each new session [of the Council].
However, since it has come to our notice on a number of occasions / that some
journeymen, / relying, more out of recklessness than out of true necessity,
on the assistance they can claim [from the sick fund], / squander and fritter away
in careless fashion / what they have earned through their work, / and then start
borrowing money / and claiming assistance from the fund, / it is our will and
earnest decision / that henceforth no journeyman is to receive support from the
fund / unless in all his previous ways and doings he has conducted himself so well
and irreproachably / that he is able to present credible testimonials to this
effect / from those master printers for whom he has previously worked.
_________________________
* The famous city hall of Frankfurt
Translation by: Luis A. Sundkvist (pp.1-8)