Books and their makers during the Middle Ages : $b A study of the conditions of the production and distribution of literature from the fall of the Roman Empire to the close of the seventeenth century, Vol. IPutnam, George Haven
History
Books and their makers during the Middle Ages : $b A study of the conditions of the production and distribution of literature from the fall of the Roman Empire to the close of the seventeenth century, Vol. I
Putnam, George Haven
Books -- History -- 400-1450; Copyright; Freedom of the press -- History -- To 1500; Manuscripts; Printers
The oldest Paris bookseller whose name has been placed on record is
described as Herneis le Romanceur. He had his shop at the entrance
to Notre Dame. His inscription appeared in a beautiful manuscript
presenting a French translation of the Code of Justinian, a manuscript
dating from the early part of the thirteenth century. It is possible
that Guillaume Herneis, whose name appeared in the tax list of 1292
with a rate of ten livres, was the scribe and the publisher of the
above manuscript, but if this were the case he must have been at the
time of this tax rating well advanced in years.[367] In 1274, the name
of Hugichio le Lombard appears recorded on several manuscripts which
have been preserved in existing collections. In the taxes of 1292,
appears the name of Agnien, _Libraire_, in the Rue de la Boucherie,
assessed for thirty-six sous. The tax is too large to make it probable
that Agnien was a mere pedlar or did business from an open stall, and
it is Géraud’s opinion that he was charged probably as a university
bookseller to whom the tax collector had refused the exemption
belonging to university members.[368]
In the year 1303, the stock of books of a certain Antoine Zeno,
_libraire juré_, was scheduled for taxation. Among the titles included
in this schedule are the commentaries or lectures of Bruno on S.
Matthew (57 pages, price one sol), the same on Mark, Luke, and John,
the commentaries of Alexander on Matthew, the _Opera Fratris Richardi_,
the _Legenda Sanctorum_, various texts of the Decretals, commentaries
of S. Bernard on the Decretals, a treatise of a certain Thomas on
metaphysics, on physics, on the heavens and the earth, and on the soul,
and a series of lectures on ethics, and on politics. The scheduled
price ranged from one sol to eight sols, the latter being the price of
a manuscript of 136 pages. The books were probably confined exclusively
to texts used in the university work.[369]
In 1313, appears in the tax list, assessed for twelve sous, the name of
Nicholas L’Anglois, bookseller and tavern-keeper in Rue St. Jacques.
It is to be noted that the booksellers, and for that matter the traders
generally of the time, are frequently distinguished by the names of
their native countries. It is probable that Nicholas failed to escape
taxation as a bookseller because he was also carrying on business (and
doubtless a more profitable business) in his tavern. The list of 1313
includes in fact but three booksellers, and each of these is described
as having an additional trade.[370]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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