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Vitré's memorandum on the prolongation of privileges, unknown (1650s)
Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France : Mss. Fr. 22071 n°83
Citation:
Vitré's memorandum on the prolongation of privileges, unknown (1650s), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
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7
namely, that in order to be accepted as a Master Hat Case Maker or as a Master
Cobbler it is necessary to do four years of apprenticeship, then to work under Master
artisans for the same length of time, and after that to produce one's 'masterpiece' [and
present it to the guild for approval], whereas in order to be a Master Printer it is
currently sufficient to know how to attach a pair of Clasps to a Book of Hours,* how
to gild the pages of a Breviary, how to put gold lines on the cover and binding, how to
stretch out sheets of moistened paper on some ropes hung up in a storehouse, how to
bind a 'Donat' [a grammar book],** and finally simply to be a member of the
Fraternity of Saint-Jean-Porte-Latine:*** all that is sufficient for one to be entitled to
run a Printing-press.
I will conclude by saying that I do not believe there to be any other means of
restoring order to a Profession, which so many erudite scholars and people of quality
[i.e. gentlefolk] have had the honour of exercising in various localities of Europe, than
to grant Privileges to the Booksellers who are willing to either print good
contemporary Books or to reprint those which can be found nowhere outside of the
ancient Libraries, and to declare those who counterfeit them, or who sell such
counterfeits, to be incapable of ever again exercising the Profession of Bookselling
and Printing. The following clause should, moreover, always be included in the
Letters of Privileges and in their Prolongations: "On condition that the Books are
printed on good-quality paper, with good types, and accurately; on pain of the
Privilege becoming void and the copies being confiscated to be sold by the ream for
use as wrapping paper, for the benefit of the Hôpital Général – this being so until the
Printers have earnestly set about correcting any such faults."
No doubt it will not be criticized by anyone that I have taken the liberty of
expressing an Opinion which truly disinterested people will surely consider to be very
useful for the public, in view of the state in which things are with regard to Printing;
nor that I have given myself the satisfaction of having wanted to contribute, before
my death, something either to the re-establishment or to the preservation of a
Profession which I have been exercising for more than seventy-five years, and which
in the past was certainly one of the greatest ornaments of France, since Foreigners
were forced to come here to engage workers when they wanted to print some
important work [ouvrage], as I showed by citing the case of the Bible of
Antwerp.****
__
*) A type of religious book for private prayer used by laymen in the late Middle Ages.
**) In the Middle Ages the word 'Donat' was generally used to refer to grammar
books, since the Ars grammatica of Aelius Donatus (fl.4th century A.D.) was for a
long time the only such textbook used in schools.
***) St John the Evangelist, who was tortured at the Latin Gate (Porta Latina) in
Rome, became the patron saints of printers, typographers, and booksellers, especially
in France, where his feast day was celebrated on 6 May.
****) Vitré is referring to the Biblia regia of Philip II as the 'Bible of Antwerp'
because Christophe Plantin was based in Antwerp, and that is where the edition was
prepared and printed.
No Transcription available.
Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France : Mss. Fr. 22071 n°83
Citation:
Vitré's memorandum on the prolongation of privileges, unknown (1650s), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
Back | Record | Images | No Commentaries
Translation only | Transcription only | Show all | Bundled images as pdf
namely, that in order to be accepted as a Master Hat Case Maker or as a Master
Cobbler it is necessary to do four years of apprenticeship, then to work under Master
artisans for the same length of time, and after that to produce one's 'masterpiece' [and
present it to the guild for approval], whereas in order to be a Master Printer it is
currently sufficient to know how to attach a pair of Clasps to a Book of Hours,* how
to gild the pages of a Breviary, how to put gold lines on the cover and binding, how to
stretch out sheets of moistened paper on some ropes hung up in a storehouse, how to
bind a 'Donat' [a grammar book],** and finally simply to be a member of the
Fraternity of Saint-Jean-Porte-Latine:*** all that is sufficient for one to be entitled to
run a Printing-press.
I will conclude by saying that I do not believe there to be any other means of
restoring order to a Profession, which so many erudite scholars and people of quality
[i.e. gentlefolk] have had the honour of exercising in various localities of Europe, than
to grant Privileges to the Booksellers who are willing to either print good
contemporary Books or to reprint those which can be found nowhere outside of the
ancient Libraries, and to declare those who counterfeit them, or who sell such
counterfeits, to be incapable of ever again exercising the Profession of Bookselling
and Printing. The following clause should, moreover, always be included in the
Letters of Privileges and in their Prolongations: "On condition that the Books are
printed on good-quality paper, with good types, and accurately; on pain of the
Privilege becoming void and the copies being confiscated to be sold by the ream for
use as wrapping paper, for the benefit of the Hôpital Général – this being so until the
Printers have earnestly set about correcting any such faults."
No doubt it will not be criticized by anyone that I have taken the liberty of
expressing an Opinion which truly disinterested people will surely consider to be very
useful for the public, in view of the state in which things are with regard to Printing;
nor that I have given myself the satisfaction of having wanted to contribute, before
my death, something either to the re-establishment or to the preservation of a
Profession which I have been exercising for more than seventy-five years, and which
in the past was certainly one of the greatest ornaments of France, since Foreigners
were forced to come here to engage workers when they wanted to print some
important work [ouvrage], as I showed by citing the case of the Bible of
Antwerp.****
__
*) A type of religious book for private prayer used by laymen in the late Middle Ages.
**) In the Middle Ages the word 'Donat' was generally used to refer to grammar
books, since the Ars grammatica of Aelius Donatus (fl.4th century A.D.) was for a
long time the only such textbook used in schools.
***) St John the Evangelist, who was tortured at the Latin Gate (Porta Latina) in
Rome, became the patron saints of printers, typographers, and booksellers, especially
in France, where his feast day was celebrated on 6 May.
****) Vitré is referring to the Biblia regia of Philip II as the 'Bible of Antwerp'
because Christophe Plantin was based in Antwerp, and that is where the edition was
prepared and printed.
No Transcription available.