The censorship of the Church of Rome and its influence upon the production and distribution of literature, volume 1 (of 2)Putnam, George Haven
History
The censorship of the Church of Rome and its influence upon the production and distribution of literature, volume 1 (of 2)
Putnam, George Haven
Freedom of the press; Liberty of conscience; Prohibited books
All books and tracts (pamphlets) are forbidden, whatever may be their
titles, or their subject-matter, and in whatever language they may be
written ... and whether they be original productions or translations,
which have been written by heretics, or which may be printed by
heretics ... even when such books contain no material bearing upon
faith or religion.[122] Also all books which, within the preceding
forty years have been issued without the name of the author, and the
name and address of the printer, or for which have not been secured
the approval and license of the bishop or inquisitor, or of some
other official appointed for the purpose by the pope or by the
inquisitors. Record of such permit must be printed in each copy of the
book. Forbidden also are all books having to do with the subjects of
aeromancy, cheiromancy, physiognomy, geomancy, hydromancy, oneiromancy,
pyromancy, or necromancy, divination, magic, or astrology, (exceptions
are made in favour of treatises on natural science planned for the
guidance of mariners, agriculturists, or physicians); and all books
which have been or shall be condemned under the decrees of popes or of
councils.
The prohibition of every work that had been produced, or that might
thereafter be produced, from the presses of printers classed as
heretics (of whom sixty-one were specified by name) constitutes
a new feature in the system of Indexes, and is evidence of the
importance that had come to be associated with the influence of the
printer-publishers of the time. The list is alphabeted by forenames.
It comprises: for Augsburg 1, Sig. Grym; for Basel 15, the most
important being the brothers Petri, Oporinus, Cratander, and Wolfius;
for Frankfort 1, Brubachius; for Genoa 5; for Marburg 2; for Hagenau 1;
for Leipzig 2, Blum and Wohlrab; for Nuremburg 5, including Montanus;
for Poschlav (Bohemia) 3; for Strasburg 9, including Ulricher and
the brothers Richelius; for Tübingen 1, Morhadius; for Venice 1,
Brucciolus; for Wittenburg 5, including Rau, Crato, and Klug; for
Zurich 3, including Gesner; for Paris 1, but that one noteworthy,
Robert Estienne, the most scholarly publisher of his generation;
without specification of place, 5. The selection of firms gives an
indication of the places which in this matter of heretical publishing
were at that time considered to be the sources of danger for the
doctrines and for the believers of the Church. The omission of any name
from the Low Countries would indicate that the books from the Dutch and
Flemish presses were not making their way into Italy and were not known
to the members of the Roman Inquisition.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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