VIIREPETITIONS, THEFTS, AND ADAPTATIONS

Dominice passionis trium partium notabilium sermo preclarus domini Gabrielis Biel supranotati. Qui olim negligenter: ex mendoso exemplari: et sub falso titulo impressus, postea emendatus ex originali et per prefatum Florentium diel diligenter revisus: in laudem altissimi innovatus clariusque interstinctus atque emendatus: non modo in sententiarum quarundam defectibus: verum etiam in orthographia. Et in imperiali opido hagenau impressus.The excellent sermon of the above-mentioned Dom Gabriel Biel on the three noteworthy parts of the Lord’s Passion, which formerly was carelessly printed from a faulty copy and under a wrong title, afterwards corrected from the original and diligently revised by the aforesaid Florentinus Diel, unto the glory of the Most High has been renovated, more clearly divided, and emended, not only in the defects of certain sentences but also in the spelling, and printed in the imperial town of Hagenau.

The excellent sermon of the above-mentioned Dom Gabriel Biel on the three noteworthy parts of the Lord’s Passion, which formerly was carelessly printed from a faulty copy and under a wrong title, afterwards corrected from the original and diligently revised by the aforesaid Florentinus Diel, unto the glory of the Most High has been renovated, more clearly divided, and emended, not only in the defects of certain sentences but also in the spelling, and printed in the imperial town of Hagenau.

To print a book (i) carelessly, (ii) from a faulty copy, and (iii) under a wrong title was really reprehensible, yet after all this detraction there is something quite pleasing in coming across a colophon like that to S. Augustine’s Exposition on the Psalms, in which Johann von Amerbach of Basel, instead of vilifying his predecessors, is content to appeal to the judgment of experts in matters of editing and textual criticism.

Post exactam diligentemque emendationem. Auctore deo: perfectum est insigne atque preclarum hoc opus explanationispsalmorum: Diui ac magni doctoris Augustini. Opus reuera maiori commendatione se dignum exhibens legentibus, quam quibusvis verbis explicari possit: vt ex prefatione et prologo ipsius evidenter colligi potest. Quanto vero studio et accuratione castigatum: emendatum: et ordinatum sit: hi iudicent qui illud aliis similibus sibi: siue manuscriptis: siue ere impressis litteris contulerint. Consummatum Basilee per magistrum Ioannem de Amerbach Anno Domini M.cccc.lxxxix.After exact and diligent revision, by the help of God, this renowned and excellent work has been completed, the Explanation of the Psalms of the divine and great doctor Augustine, a work in very truth approving itself to its readers as worthy of greater praise than can be unfolded in any words, as can plainly be gathered from its preface and prologue. But with how much study and accuracy it has been corrected, emended, and set in order, let those judge who have compared it with other texts like itself, whether in manuscript or in brass-printed letters. Finished at Basel by Master Johann von AmerbachA.D.1489.

After exact and diligent revision, by the help of God, this renowned and excellent work has been completed, the Explanation of the Psalms of the divine and great doctor Augustine, a work in very truth approving itself to its readers as worthy of greater praise than can be unfolded in any words, as can plainly be gathered from its preface and prologue. But with how much study and accuracy it has been corrected, emended, and set in order, let those judge who have compared it with other texts like itself, whether in manuscript or in brass-printed letters. Finished at Basel by Master Johann von AmerbachA.D.1489.

Perhaps even more cheering than this pleasant and reasonable self-confidence is the mild shadow of an oath, a simple “Hercule,” with which Heinrich Quentell asseverates that his edition of the De Veritate of S. Thomas Aquinas truly rejoices in the true title of truth! We may note also the little arrangement by which the printer contrived to bring his work to an end on the very day of the saint’s festival.

Diui Thome aquinatis doctoris angelici illuminatissimi summa de veritate, per theozophie professorem eximium, Magistrum Theodericum de Susteren, insignis conuentus Coloniensis ordinis fratrum Predicatorum regentem profundissimum, denuo peruigili studio in luculentam erecta consonantiam, adeo hercule vt vere vero veritatis titulo gaudeat. Impressa Agrippine opera atque impensis prouidi viri Henrici Quentell, ciuis eiusdem.Anno salutis humane nonagesimonono supra millesimum quadringentesimum Ipso die celebritatis autoris cursu felici ad finem vsque perducta.The Summa de Veritate (Epitome of Truth) of St. Thomas Aquinas, the angelic and most illuminate doctor, by the distinguished professor of divine learning Theoderic of Susteren, a regent deeply versed of the famous Cologne Convent of the order of Preaching Friars, newly by assiduous study restored to a fruitful harmony, so by Hercules that it truly rejoices in the true title of Truth, and printed at Cologne by the efforts and at the expense of the prudent Heinrich Quentell, citizen of the same, in the year of man’s salvation 1499, has been brought with favorable course even unto completion on the very festival of its author.

The Summa de Veritate (Epitome of Truth) of St. Thomas Aquinas, the angelic and most illuminate doctor, by the distinguished professor of divine learning Theoderic of Susteren, a regent deeply versed of the famous Cologne Convent of the order of Preaching Friars, newly by assiduous study restored to a fruitful harmony, so by Hercules that it truly rejoices in the true title of Truth, and printed at Cologne by the efforts and at the expense of the prudent Heinrich Quentell, citizen of the same, in the year of man’s salvation 1499, has been brought with favorable course even unto completion on the very festival of its author.

In all these books editors could have had no difficulties to deal with save those which arise when texts are copied and recopied with the inevitable introduction of small errors at every stage, and perhaps some even more dangerous attempts to correct those already made. But in one class of printing, that of liturgical books, in which absolute accuracy of text and punctuation was of supreme importance, the need for careful supervision was really very great,—so much so, indeed, that the great bulk of liturgical printing was entrusted to firms who made a specialty of it. It is not surprising, therefore, to find some special insistence on the editorial virtues of a missal-printer; and the colophon to the Salzburg Missal printed by Georg Stuchs at Nuremberg in 1498 is interesting for its detailed account of the system of punctuation.

Missale et de tempore et de sanctis non modo secundum notulam metropolitane ecclesie Salisburgensis ordinatum, verum etiam haud exigua opera adhibita, tum in quottis foliorum locandis, tum in remissionis discreto numero tam circa quamlibetlectionem vel prophetalem vel apostolicam quam circa quodlibet euangelium alio in loco plenarie locatum, situando reuisum. Deinde autem per cola et comata distinctum. Simplici puncto in collectis secretis complendis lectionibus epistolis et euangeliis locato colum indicante, gemino uero puncto coma significante: sed in introitu graduali alleluia sequentiis offertoris et communione puncto simplici locato mediam distinctionem que comatis appellatione venit presentante, gemino autem puncto subdistinctionem que colum nuncupatur signante. Demum uero in officina Georii [sic] Stöchs ex Sulczpach, ciuis Nurnbergensis, expensa Ioannis Ryman impressum. Idibus Augusti anni ab incarnatione Messye nonagesimi octaui supra millesimum quadragintesimum: finit.A missal both for the seasons and saints’ days, not only arranged according to the order of the metropolitan church of Salzburg, but also revised with no small pains, both in setting down the numbers of the leaves and in assigning a distinctly numbered reference for every lesson, whether taken from the books of the Prophets or of the Apostles, and also for every gospel placed elsewhere in its full form: Distinguished, moreover, by colons and commas: in the Collects, Secrets, Post Communions, Lessons, Epistles and Gospels, the placing of a single point denoting a colon, a double point signifying a comma; but in the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Sequences, Offertory and Communion the placing of a single point indicating the middle distinction which goes by the name of a comma, the double point the subdistinction which is called a colon. Now at last printed in the workshop of Georg Stuchs of Sulzbach, citizen of Nuremberg, at the expense of Johann Ryman, and completed on the 13th August of the year from the Messiah’s incarnation 1498.

A missal both for the seasons and saints’ days, not only arranged according to the order of the metropolitan church of Salzburg, but also revised with no small pains, both in setting down the numbers of the leaves and in assigning a distinctly numbered reference for every lesson, whether taken from the books of the Prophets or of the Apostles, and also for every gospel placed elsewhere in its full form: Distinguished, moreover, by colons and commas: in the Collects, Secrets, Post Communions, Lessons, Epistles and Gospels, the placing of a single point denoting a colon, a double point signifying a comma; but in the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Sequences, Offertory and Communion the placing of a single point indicating the middle distinction which goes by the name of a comma, the double point the subdistinction which is called a colon. Now at last printed in the workshop of Georg Stuchs of Sulzbach, citizen of Nuremberg, at the expense of Johann Ryman, and completed on the 13th August of the year from the Messiah’s incarnation 1498.

In a Roman missal printed by G. Arrivabenus & P. de Paganinis at Venice in 1484 the colophon alludes to the common practice of correcting the text of a printed missal by hand, sometimes to bring it up to date, but also for the elimination of the printer’s errors. In this casethe printers make bold to say that their text is so correct that any one who tampers with it rashly is as likely to turn right into wrong as wrong into right.

Roman Missal. Venice: G. Arriuabenus and P. de Paganinis, 1484.Explicit missale secundum morem romane ecclesie, summa cum diligentia et fideli studio purgatum ab his erroribus quibus uel ignorantia uel incuria librariorum adductis communis abusus inualuit. Quocirca quicunque legerit obsecratum uelim ne adhibeat manum precipitem ad corrigendam uel potius corrumpendamlibri rectitudinem magno partam labore, sed multiplicato sincero examine postmodum exequatur quicquid recta ratio et spiritus veritatis ingesserit. Ad laudem omnipotentis dei et sanctissime uirginis matris eius, totiusque curie celestis. Impressum Venetiis arte et impensis Georgii de Riuabenis Mantuani et Paganini de Paganinis Brixiani sociorum: sub Inclyto duce Ioanne Mocenico, quinto kalendas octobris. M.cccclxxxiiii. Amen.Here ends the Missal according to the custom of the Roman Church, with the utmost diligence and faithful study purged from the errors with which, introduced by the ignorance and carelessness of copyists, the common perversion became established. Wherefore I would pray whoever reads it not to lay hasty hands to the correction, or rather corruption, of the accuracy of the book, which was obtained only by great labor; but let him examine it again and again with a single heart and thereafter carry out whatever right reason and the spirit of truth suggest. To the praise of Almighty God and of the most holy Virgin his Mother, and of all the court of heaven. Printed at Venice by the skill and at the charges of Georgio di Arrivabene of Mantua and Paganino dei Paganini of Brescia, partners, under the renowned doge Giovanni Mocenigo, 27 September, 1484. Amen.

Roman Missal. Venice: G. Arriuabenus and P. de Paganinis, 1484.

Explicit missale secundum morem romane ecclesie, summa cum diligentia et fideli studio purgatum ab his erroribus quibus uel ignorantia uel incuria librariorum adductis communis abusus inualuit. Quocirca quicunque legerit obsecratum uelim ne adhibeat manum precipitem ad corrigendam uel potius corrumpendamlibri rectitudinem magno partam labore, sed multiplicato sincero examine postmodum exequatur quicquid recta ratio et spiritus veritatis ingesserit. Ad laudem omnipotentis dei et sanctissime uirginis matris eius, totiusque curie celestis. Impressum Venetiis arte et impensis Georgii de Riuabenis Mantuani et Paganini de Paganinis Brixiani sociorum: sub Inclyto duce Ioanne Mocenico, quinto kalendas octobris. M.cccclxxxiiii. Amen.

Here ends the Missal according to the custom of the Roman Church, with the utmost diligence and faithful study purged from the errors with which, introduced by the ignorance and carelessness of copyists, the common perversion became established. Wherefore I would pray whoever reads it not to lay hasty hands to the correction, or rather corruption, of the accuracy of the book, which was obtained only by great labor; but let him examine it again and again with a single heart and thereafter carry out whatever right reason and the spirit of truth suggest. To the praise of Almighty God and of the most holy Virgin his Mother, and of all the court of heaven. Printed at Venice by the skill and at the charges of Georgio di Arrivabene of Mantua and Paganino dei Paganini of Brescia, partners, under the renowned doge Giovanni Mocenigo, 27 September, 1484. Amen.

Somewhat in the same spirit as the boast of the Venetian missal-printers, we find Koberger declaring—let us hope, after consulting ecclesiastical authorities—that his edition of the Revelations of S. Bridget is so complete that if any one produces additional revelations they may be dismissed as spurious.

Finit diuinum volumen omnium celestium Reuelationum preelecte sponse christi sancte Birgitte de regno Suetie. A religiosis patribus originalis monasterii sanctarum Marie et Brigitte in Watzstenis, prematuro studio et exquisita diligentia, in hos suprascriptos numerum et ordinem accuratius comportatum.Et si forte alique alie reuelationes, sicut repertum est, beate Brigitte per errorem aut temerarie a quoque quomodolibet ascribantur, preter has que in hoc presenti volumine aut in vita seu legenda sancte Birgitte maiori continentur, tanquam false et erronee decernentur.Insuper iam alterato per Anthonium Koberger ciuem Nurembergensem impresse finiunt. Anno domini M.ccccc. xxi. mensis Septembris. Laus omnipotenti deo. Amen.Here ends the divine volume of all the heavenly Revelations of the preëlect spouse of Christ, Saint Bridget of the kingdom of Sweden. The religious fathers of the original monastery of Saints Mary and Bridget in Wadstena, by most mature study and extraordinary diligence, have reduced them more accurately to the above number and arrangement. And if haply, as has been found the case, other revelations are through error or carelessness by any one or in any manner ascribed to the blessed Bridget besides those contained in this present volume or in the larger Life or Legend of Saint Bridget, they shall be treated as false and erroneous.Printed now for the second time by Anton Koberger, citizen of Nuremberg, and brought to an end on September 21st,A.D.1500. Praise be to Almighty God. Amen.

Insuper iam alterato per Anthonium Koberger ciuem Nurembergensem impresse finiunt. Anno domini M.ccccc. xxi. mensis Septembris. Laus omnipotenti deo. Amen.

Here ends the divine volume of all the heavenly Revelations of the preëlect spouse of Christ, Saint Bridget of the kingdom of Sweden. The religious fathers of the original monastery of Saints Mary and Bridget in Wadstena, by most mature study and extraordinary diligence, have reduced them more accurately to the above number and arrangement. And if haply, as has been found the case, other revelations are through error or carelessness by any one or in any manner ascribed to the blessed Bridget besides those contained in this present volume or in the larger Life or Legend of Saint Bridget, they shall be treated as false and erroneous.

Printed now for the second time by Anton Koberger, citizen of Nuremberg, and brought to an end on September 21st,A.D.1500. Praise be to Almighty God. Amen.

Of the views of the editors of classical texts we have already had some specimens in some of the early Venetian colophons. That of Filippo da Lavagna to his edition of the Epistolae Familiares of Cicero (Milan, 1472) is, however, of considerable interest, and tells us, moreover, the number of copies printed, besides conveying a stray hint to the students of the day that the production of further editions of the same excellence would depend on the liberality of their support.

Cicero. Epistolae Familiares. Milan: Lavagna, 1472.Epistolarum Familiarium M. Tull. Cic. multa uolumina in diuersis Italiae locis hac noua impressorum arte transcripta sunt, que si ut plurima numero ita etiam studio satis correcta essent nouo hoc labore non fuisset opus. Sed tanto errorum numero confunduntur ut non modo littere pro litteris et pro uerbis uerba perturbatissime inuoluta, uerum etiam epistole in epistolas, libri in libros, sic inueniantur confusi, ne tam doctorum diligentia ad communem utilitatem confecta quam auarissimorum hominum cupiditate lucri gratia festinando conuoluta contorta contaminataque manifeste uideantur. Que cum audirem ex uiris cum doctissimis tum etiam prudentissimis ego Philippus Lauagna, ciuis Mediolanensis, ut pro uirili mea aliqua ex parte meis ciuibus prodessem, nactus exemplar correctissimum, studio diligentissimo hominum doctrina prestantium, trecenta uolumina exscribenda curaui, opera adhibita ut singule pagine antea quam imprimerentur ab aliquo doctorum perlecte essent et castigate: quem ego laborem nisi profudisse uidebor pleraque in futurum accuratissime ut transcribantur laborabo non minori publice quam mee utilitatis ratione seruata.Barbara cum Marci uerbis admixta legebas:Hunc lege quod verum est hoc Ciceronis opus.Virgo decus coeli Christi sanctissime materLaus tibi cum nato sit sine fine tuo.M.cccc.lxxii. viii kal. Apriles.Of the Familiar Letters of M. Tullius Cicero many volumes have been copied in different places of Italy by this new art of the printers, and if these, as they are many in number, were also zealously and sufficiently corrected, there had been no need for this new work. But they are confused by so many errors that not only are letters and words substituted for one another in a most disorderly tangle, but also whole epistles and books are found so confused with others that the result plainly appears not so much a compilation by the diligence of learned men for the common profit, as some tangled and contorted mass of corruptions produced by the greed of the avaricious by hurrying for the sake of gain. This when, by the report of most learned and also prudent men, I, Philip Lavagna, a citizen of Milan, understood, in the hope of doing a man’s part in benefiting in some respect my fellow-citizens, I obtainedby the most diligent zeal a very correct copy with the help of distinguished scholars, and made it my business to have 300 volumes written out, attention being paid that each page, before it was printed off, should be read over and corrected by one of the doctors. And unless I shall find that I have wasted this labor, I will make it my business that many other texts for the future shall be most accurately copied, the interests of the public being as carefully preserved as my own.With Tully’s words once phrases rude were twined:Here uncorrupted Cicero you shall find.Glory of heaven, Christ’s mother, holiest maid,Ever to thee, with him, all praise be paid.25 March, 1472.

Cicero. Epistolae Familiares. Milan: Lavagna, 1472.

Epistolarum Familiarium M. Tull. Cic. multa uolumina in diuersis Italiae locis hac noua impressorum arte transcripta sunt, que si ut plurima numero ita etiam studio satis correcta essent nouo hoc labore non fuisset opus. Sed tanto errorum numero confunduntur ut non modo littere pro litteris et pro uerbis uerba perturbatissime inuoluta, uerum etiam epistole in epistolas, libri in libros, sic inueniantur confusi, ne tam doctorum diligentia ad communem utilitatem confecta quam auarissimorum hominum cupiditate lucri gratia festinando conuoluta contorta contaminataque manifeste uideantur. Que cum audirem ex uiris cum doctissimis tum etiam prudentissimis ego Philippus Lauagna, ciuis Mediolanensis, ut pro uirili mea aliqua ex parte meis ciuibus prodessem, nactus exemplar correctissimum, studio diligentissimo hominum doctrina prestantium, trecenta uolumina exscribenda curaui, opera adhibita ut singule pagine antea quam imprimerentur ab aliquo doctorum perlecte essent et castigate: quem ego laborem nisi profudisse uidebor pleraque in futurum accuratissime ut transcribantur laborabo non minori publice quam mee utilitatis ratione seruata.

Barbara cum Marci uerbis admixta legebas:Hunc lege quod verum est hoc Ciceronis opus.Virgo decus coeli Christi sanctissime materLaus tibi cum nato sit sine fine tuo.M.cccc.lxxii. viii kal. Apriles.

Barbara cum Marci uerbis admixta legebas:Hunc lege quod verum est hoc Ciceronis opus.

Barbara cum Marci uerbis admixta legebas:

Hunc lege quod verum est hoc Ciceronis opus.

Virgo decus coeli Christi sanctissime materLaus tibi cum nato sit sine fine tuo.

Virgo decus coeli Christi sanctissime mater

Laus tibi cum nato sit sine fine tuo.

M.cccc.lxxii. viii kal. Apriles.

Of the Familiar Letters of M. Tullius Cicero many volumes have been copied in different places of Italy by this new art of the printers, and if these, as they are many in number, were also zealously and sufficiently corrected, there had been no need for this new work. But they are confused by so many errors that not only are letters and words substituted for one another in a most disorderly tangle, but also whole epistles and books are found so confused with others that the result plainly appears not so much a compilation by the diligence of learned men for the common profit, as some tangled and contorted mass of corruptions produced by the greed of the avaricious by hurrying for the sake of gain. This when, by the report of most learned and also prudent men, I, Philip Lavagna, a citizen of Milan, understood, in the hope of doing a man’s part in benefiting in some respect my fellow-citizens, I obtainedby the most diligent zeal a very correct copy with the help of distinguished scholars, and made it my business to have 300 volumes written out, attention being paid that each page, before it was printed off, should be read over and corrected by one of the doctors. And unless I shall find that I have wasted this labor, I will make it my business that many other texts for the future shall be most accurately copied, the interests of the public being as carefully preserved as my own.

With Tully’s words once phrases rude were twined:Here uncorrupted Cicero you shall find.Glory of heaven, Christ’s mother, holiest maid,Ever to thee, with him, all praise be paid.25 March, 1472.

With Tully’s words once phrases rude were twined:Here uncorrupted Cicero you shall find.

With Tully’s words once phrases rude were twined:

Here uncorrupted Cicero you shall find.

Glory of heaven, Christ’s mother, holiest maid,Ever to thee, with him, all praise be paid.

Glory of heaven, Christ’s mother, holiest maid,

Ever to thee, with him, all praise be paid.

25 March, 1472.

Even better than this, however, is the colophon to the Brescia Lucretius, in which we see the editor dismayed at first by the obvious defects of his copy, but resolving at length to print it on the ground that his inability to find any other was the best proof of its rarity.

Titi Lucretii Cari finis. Lucretii unicum meas in manus cum pervenisset exemplar de eo imprimendo hesitaui: quod erat difficile unico de exemplo quae librarii essent praeterita negligentia illa corrigere. Verum ubi alterum perquisitum exemplar adinuenire non potui, hac ipsa motus difficultate unico etiam de exemplari volui librum quam maxime rarum communem multis facere studiosis: siquidem facilius erit pauca loca uel aliunde altero exemplari extricato uel suo studio castigare et diligentia: quam integro carere uolumine. Presertim cum a fabulis quae uacuas (ut inquit poeta) delectant mentes remotus Lucretius noster de rerum natura questiones tractet acutissimas tanto ingenii acumine tantoque lepore uerborum ut omnes qui illum secuti poete sunt: eum ita suis in descriptionibus imitentur, et Virgilius presertim, poetarum princeps, ut ipsis cum uerbis tria interdum et amplius metra suscipiant. Thoma Ferando auctore.The end of Titus Lucretius Carus. When a single copy of Lucretius came into my hands I hesitated as to printing it, because it was difficult from a single copy to correct the slips due to the carelessness of the copyist. But when by diligent search I could find no second copy, moved by this very difficulty I was minded even from a single copy to make a book of the greatest rarity common to many scholars, since it will be easier to correct a few places, either by a second copy unearthed from another quarter or by one’s own study and diligence, than to lack a whole volume. Especially since, far removed from the fables which (as the poet says) delight empty minds, our Lucretius handles the keenest questions concerning the nature of things with so much intellectual acumen and verbal elegance that all the poets who have followed him imitate him so in their descriptions, more especially Virgil, the prince of poets, that with his very words they sometimes make three lines and more. Thomas Ferrandus.

The end of Titus Lucretius Carus. When a single copy of Lucretius came into my hands I hesitated as to printing it, because it was difficult from a single copy to correct the slips due to the carelessness of the copyist. But when by diligent search I could find no second copy, moved by this very difficulty I was minded even from a single copy to make a book of the greatest rarity common to many scholars, since it will be easier to correct a few places, either by a second copy unearthed from another quarter or by one’s own study and diligence, than to lack a whole volume. Especially since, far removed from the fables which (as the poet says) delight empty minds, our Lucretius handles the keenest questions concerning the nature of things with so much intellectual acumen and verbal elegance that all the poets who have followed him imitate him so in their descriptions, more especially Virgil, the prince of poets, that with his very words they sometimes make three lines and more. Thomas Ferrandus.

The name of Lucretius seldom appears in any of the medieval catalogues, and the number of manuscripts of his “De Rerum Natura” now extant is so small that his first printer’s plea may well be received. Even in comparatively modern books, indeed, a satisfactory text was not always to be obtained for the asking. Chaucer has had no more devout lover than William Caxton, and yet when Caxton printed the “Canterbury Tales” he only succeeded in obtaining a manuscript of the worst class to work from, and when a friend offered him a better text for his second edition the improvement was very slight. In the same way we find the anonymous Florentine editor of two tracts of Domenico Cavalca (we cannot be wrong in assuming that the same editor worked on both) apologizing for the bad text from which he printed the first few pages of the “Frutti della Lingua,” and telling how in the case of the “Specchio di Croce” he had tocollate a number of copies in order to replace them by a good printed edition.

(i) Frutti della Lingua.Impresso in Firenze con somma diligentia emendato e correcto, excepto alcuni fogli del principio di decto tractato: e tale defecto non da nostra inaduertentia, ma da una copia o uero exemplo tutto corropto e falsificato, impresso per lo adrieto in firenze per un altro non diligente impressore procedette. Onde noi cio conoscendo, inuestigando altra copia emendatissima, secondo quella, quanto ledebole forze del nostro ingegno ci hanno porto, habbiamo imposto emendato fine al presente tractato.Printed in Florence, emended and corrected with the greatest diligence, except for some leaves of the beginning of the said tract, and such defect not through our inadvertence, but from a copy or example wholly corrupt and falsified, printed heretofore in Florence by another printer by no means diligent. Whence we, on learning this, sought out another copy of the greatest correctness, according to which, to the best of the poor powers of our mind, we have put a revised ending to the present tract.(ii) Specchio di Croce.Impresso in Firenze con somma diligentia correcti: nella quale correptione non poco habbiamo insudato & affatichatoci: concio sia che di moltissime copie, o vero exempli di questa utile operetta, parte scripti in penna e parte impressi, nessuno nhabbiamo trouato correcto, ma tutti aequalmente incorrecti. Onde noi (benche insufficienti) con quel poco sapere che la natura ci ha porto, habbiamo transcorrendo di molti corropti facto uno quasi correpto: Si che preghiamo li lectori di questa operetta da noi impressa se in epsa alcuna scorreptione troueranno, non ci debbino biasimare, se di quella non pocha faticha che spesa ci habbiamo laudare non ci vorranno: Solo in dio regna perfectione.Printed in Florence, corrected with the utmost diligence: in the which correction we have sweated and wearied ourselves morethan a little; whereas of very many copies or examples of the said useful booklet, some written with pen, some printed, we have found not one correct, but all equally incorrect. Whence we (though ill equipped), with such little skill as nature has given us, have by much revision made out of many corrupt copies one which may be taken as correct. So that we pray the readers of this booklet printed by us, if they shall find any incorrectness in it, not to reproach us therefor, if they will not praise us for the great trouble which we have expended. Perfection reigns only in God.

(i) Frutti della Lingua.

Impresso in Firenze con somma diligentia emendato e correcto, excepto alcuni fogli del principio di decto tractato: e tale defecto non da nostra inaduertentia, ma da una copia o uero exemplo tutto corropto e falsificato, impresso per lo adrieto in firenze per un altro non diligente impressore procedette. Onde noi cio conoscendo, inuestigando altra copia emendatissima, secondo quella, quanto ledebole forze del nostro ingegno ci hanno porto, habbiamo imposto emendato fine al presente tractato.

Printed in Florence, emended and corrected with the greatest diligence, except for some leaves of the beginning of the said tract, and such defect not through our inadvertence, but from a copy or example wholly corrupt and falsified, printed heretofore in Florence by another printer by no means diligent. Whence we, on learning this, sought out another copy of the greatest correctness, according to which, to the best of the poor powers of our mind, we have put a revised ending to the present tract.

(ii) Specchio di Croce.

Impresso in Firenze con somma diligentia correcti: nella quale correptione non poco habbiamo insudato & affatichatoci: concio sia che di moltissime copie, o vero exempli di questa utile operetta, parte scripti in penna e parte impressi, nessuno nhabbiamo trouato correcto, ma tutti aequalmente incorrecti. Onde noi (benche insufficienti) con quel poco sapere che la natura ci ha porto, habbiamo transcorrendo di molti corropti facto uno quasi correpto: Si che preghiamo li lectori di questa operetta da noi impressa se in epsa alcuna scorreptione troueranno, non ci debbino biasimare, se di quella non pocha faticha che spesa ci habbiamo laudare non ci vorranno: Solo in dio regna perfectione.

Printed in Florence, corrected with the utmost diligence: in the which correction we have sweated and wearied ourselves morethan a little; whereas of very many copies or examples of the said useful booklet, some written with pen, some printed, we have found not one correct, but all equally incorrect. Whence we (though ill equipped), with such little skill as nature has given us, have by much revision made out of many corrupt copies one which may be taken as correct. So that we pray the readers of this booklet printed by us, if they shall find any incorrectness in it, not to reproach us therefor, if they will not praise us for the great trouble which we have expended. Perfection reigns only in God.

No doubt the early printers and the editors whom they employed made the most of all these difficulties; yet they must have been real enough, so that, despite the affected language in which it is phrased, the colophon of Nicolas Kessler of Basel to his edition of the “Homeliarius Doctorum” may well command our sympathy.

Homiliae. Basel: N. Kessler, 1498.Preclarum Omeliarum opus plurimorum sanctorum aliorumue famosissimorum doctorum super euangeliis de tempore et sanctis, quibusdam eorundem adiunctis sermonibus, Tam verborum ornatu limatum, tamque sententiarum grauitate vbertateque sparsim plantatum, in mercuriali Nicolai Kessler officina Basilee impressum (Imperante illustrissimo Maximiliano rege Romanorum inuictissimo). Non igitur in factorem liuoris tractus aculeo theonino dente correctionis insanias, Sed potius beneficii non ingratus ad exhibita donaria discretionis oculos adhibeas columbinos. Anno incarnationis dominice millesimo quadringentesimo nonagesimo octauo decimo Nonas Augusti. Finit feliciter.An excellent book of Homilies of many saints and other most famous teachers on the Gospels of the Seasons and the Saints, with certain of their sermons added, polished with verbal ornament and with weighty and fruitful sayings scattered all over it: printed in the mercurial workshop of Nicolas Kessler at Basel (the most illustrious Maximilian the Unconquered, King of the Romans, being Emperor). Do not therefore, impelled by the sting of malice, rage against the compiler with the small satirist’s fang of correction; but rather, not ungrateful for a benefit, turn to the offerings before you the dovelike eyes of discretion. In the year of the Lord’s incarnation 1498, on the tenth of the Nones of August, happily finished.

Homiliae. Basel: N. Kessler, 1498.

Preclarum Omeliarum opus plurimorum sanctorum aliorumue famosissimorum doctorum super euangeliis de tempore et sanctis, quibusdam eorundem adiunctis sermonibus, Tam verborum ornatu limatum, tamque sententiarum grauitate vbertateque sparsim plantatum, in mercuriali Nicolai Kessler officina Basilee impressum (Imperante illustrissimo Maximiliano rege Romanorum inuictissimo). Non igitur in factorem liuoris tractus aculeo theonino dente correctionis insanias, Sed potius beneficii non ingratus ad exhibita donaria discretionis oculos adhibeas columbinos. Anno incarnationis dominice millesimo quadringentesimo nonagesimo octauo decimo Nonas Augusti. Finit feliciter.

An excellent book of Homilies of many saints and other most famous teachers on the Gospels of the Seasons and the Saints, with certain of their sermons added, polished with verbal ornament and with weighty and fruitful sayings scattered all over it: printed in the mercurial workshop of Nicolas Kessler at Basel (the most illustrious Maximilian the Unconquered, King of the Romans, being Emperor). Do not therefore, impelled by the sting of malice, rage against the compiler with the small satirist’s fang of correction; but rather, not ungrateful for a benefit, turn to the offerings before you the dovelike eyes of discretion. In the year of the Lord’s incarnation 1498, on the tenth of the Nones of August, happily finished.

It is to be feared that the pay of a fifteenth-century “corrector,” when he was paid at all, was far from princely. It is pleasant, therefore, to find that at least one printer, the veteran Ulrich Zell, was so genuinely grateful to a friendly priest who had helped him in seeing Harderwyck’s “Commentaries on Logic” through the press as to make most handsome acknowledgment in his colophon and in verses added to it.

Commentarii in quatuor libros noue logice processum burse Laurentiane famosissimi Agrippinensis Colonie gymnasii continentesper honorabilem virum artium magistrum necnon sacre theologie licentiatum Gerardum Herdarwiccensem actu in eodem regentem, ex diuersis et potissimum Magni Alberti comentarius collecti, et per Udalricum Zell prope Lyskirchen impressoria artis in sancta Coloniensi ciuitate protomagistrum fabre characterizati. Anno virginalis partu Millesimo quadragintesimo super nonagesimum quarto in profesto Conuersionis euangelice tube Pauli Apostoli ad finem optatum sunt perducti, de quo sit deo uni et trino laus honor et gloria per infinita seculorum secula. Amen. Ex quo in hoc tomorum stromateo opere non paruo adiumento mihi fuit honorabilis dominus diue memorie Iacobus Amsfordensis, artium liberalium et sacrarum litterarum professor dum vitam in humanis ageret profundissimus, Ecclesie sancti Iohannis Baptiste pastor, mihi ut frater amicissimus, decreui in calce horum titulum sepulcralem, trito sermone epitaphium appellatum, quem prestantissimus et generosus dominus Rodolphus Langius, vir omnium litterarum laude cumulatissimus, ecclesie Monasteriensis Canonicus, in eundem defunctum, precibus amicorum impulsus, exornauit subjungere, ut dum hunc quos ab errore salutari exhortatione reuocauerit legerint apud altissimum pro anima eius vitificum sacrificium offerant.The notes on the four books of the new logic containing the process of the Laurentian bursary of the most famous school of Cologne, by an honorable man, master of arts and licentiate of sacred theology, Gerard of Harderwyck, president at that function, brought together from divers notes and specially from those of Albertus Magnus, and by Ulrich Zell, near the Lyskirche, chief practiser of the printer’s art in the holy city of Cologne, skilfully set in type, in the year of the Virgin Birth 1494, on the eve of the Conversion of the Gospel-trumpet, the Apostle Paul, have been brought to their wished-for end, for which to God the One and Three let there be praise, honor, and glory through infinite ages of ages. Amen. And because in this laying down of volumes I received no small help from an honorable master of sacred memory, Jakob of Amsfort,while he lived among men a most profound professor of liberal arts and sacred literature, minister of the church of Saint John Baptist, and to me as a most friendly brother, I determined to subjoin at the end of all this a sepulchral inscription, commonly called an epitaph, which the most excellent and well-born Dom. Rudolph Lange, a man of great distinction in every kind of literature, canon of the monastic church, urged by the prayers of friends, furnished in honor of the dead, that while those whom by his wholesome exhortation he recalled from error read this, they may offer before the Most High the life-giving sacrifice for his soul.

The notes on the four books of the new logic containing the process of the Laurentian bursary of the most famous school of Cologne, by an honorable man, master of arts and licentiate of sacred theology, Gerard of Harderwyck, president at that function, brought together from divers notes and specially from those of Albertus Magnus, and by Ulrich Zell, near the Lyskirche, chief practiser of the printer’s art in the holy city of Cologne, skilfully set in type, in the year of the Virgin Birth 1494, on the eve of the Conversion of the Gospel-trumpet, the Apostle Paul, have been brought to their wished-for end, for which to God the One and Three let there be praise, honor, and glory through infinite ages of ages. Amen. And because in this laying down of volumes I received no small help from an honorable master of sacred memory, Jakob of Amsfort,while he lived among men a most profound professor of liberal arts and sacred literature, minister of the church of Saint John Baptist, and to me as a most friendly brother, I determined to subjoin at the end of all this a sepulchral inscription, commonly called an epitaph, which the most excellent and well-born Dom. Rudolph Lange, a man of great distinction in every kind of literature, canon of the monastic church, urged by the prayers of friends, furnished in honor of the dead, that while those whom by his wholesome exhortation he recalled from error read this, they may offer before the Most High the life-giving sacrifice for his soul.

And the Epitaph duly follows, though it need not be quoted here.

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In our opening chapter it was suggested that if all early books were provided with colophons the work of bibliographers would be much simplified. Some qualifying epithet ought, however, to have been inserted; for there are some colophons which, instead of simplifying the task of assigning to every book its place, printer, and date, greatly aggravate the bibliographer’s troubles. Of deliberately untruthful colophons I can, indeed, only think of a single fifteenth-century example—that in the “Incunabulum of Brescia hitherto ascribed to Florence,” which the late Mr. R. C. Christie tracked down so neatly in the fourth volume of the Bibliographical Society’s Transactions. This occurs in a copy of some of the works of Politian, and reads:

Impressum Florentiae: et accuratissime castigatum opera et impensa Leonardi de Arigis de Gesoriaco Die decimo Augusti M.I.D.Printed at Florence and most accurately corrected by the work and at the cost of Leonardo dei Arigi of Gesoriaco, on the tenth day of August, 1499.

Impressum Florentiae: et accuratissime castigatum opera et impensa Leonardi de Arigis de Gesoriaco Die decimo Augusti M.I.D.

Printed at Florence and most accurately corrected by the work and at the cost of Leonardo dei Arigi of Gesoriaco, on the tenth day of August, 1499.

As a matter of fact, the book, as Mr. Christie showed (and Mr. Proctor accepted his conclusions), was printed with the types of Bernardinus Misinta of Brescia, and the colophon which looks so simple and straightforward deceived bibliographers for some four centuries. Even the increased study of types would by itself hardly have sufficed to detect the fraud, but the fact that it was alluded to, though without mention of the name of the book, in the petition of Aldus to the Venetian Senate (17th October, 1502) put Mr. Christie on the track, and he ran it down with his accustomed neatness and precision. The fraud, of course, was the direct outcome of the first imperfect attempts to give the producers of books a reasonable copyright in them by means of privileges. As Brescia was subject to the Venetian Senate, Misinta, had he put his name in the colophon, could have been punished, and he therefore used a false imprint in order to divert suspicion. When restrictions, right and wrong, multiplied during the sixteenth century, false imprints became increasingly common, and they form a subject by themselves with which we must not here meddle farther. While Misinta’s “Politian” stands by itself, as far as I know, in deliberately trying to mislead purchasers as to its place of imprint, there are quite a considerable number of early books which reprint the colophons of previous editions, and thus tempt the unwary to mistake them for the originals which they copied. Since the decision in the case of Parryv.Moring and another, English publishers and those they employ are likely to be much more careful; but in the years immediately preceding it the carelessness with which one “editor” usedthe text of his predecessor to print from was often extraordinary, one reprint even including a number of duly initialled and copyright notes from another which had appeared only a year or two earlier. If this could be done in our own day, despite the existence of reviewers and the law courts, we may easily imagine that the smaller printers and publishers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, who could not afford to keep their own scholarly “corrector,” simply handed over existing texts to their workmen and printed them as they stood. In most cases, of course, they had the sense to stop when they came to the colophon; but they did not always do so, and, more especially, when the colophon was in verse an unlearned compositor might easily imagine that it formed an essential part of the book. Thus twelve Latin couplets from the Milan edition of the “Confessionale,” of Bartholomaeus de Chaimis, though they end with the clear statement that Christopher Valdarfer of Ratisbon came to the help of the Milanese and printed this book (October, 1474), were reprinted as they stood in several anonymous Strasburg editions, while Creusner at Nuremberg and Schoeffer at Mainz compromised by leaving out the last six lines, which contain Valdarfer’s name.

Occasionally this careless reprinting leads to a book possessing a double colophon, as in the 1478 Naples edition of the “De Officiis” and other works of Cicero, which uses for his “Letters to Atticus” Jenson’s text of 1470. The colophon begins exactly (save for differences in contractions, punctuation, etc.) as in the Jenson edition already quoted (Chapter III):

M. T. C. epistolae ad Atticum Brutum et Q. Fratrem cum ipsius Attici uita foeliciter expliciunt. M.cccc.lxxAttice, nunc totus Veneta diffunderis urbe,Cum quondam fuerit copia rara tui.Gallicus hoc Ienson Nicolaus muneris orbiAttulit ingenio Daedalicaque manu.Christophorus Mauro plenus bonitate fidequeDux erat. Auctorem, lector, opusque tenes.

M. T. C. epistolae ad Atticum Brutum et Q. Fratrem cum ipsius Attici uita foeliciter expliciunt. M.cccc.lxx

Attice, nunc totus Veneta diffunderis urbe,Cum quondam fuerit copia rara tui.Gallicus hoc Ienson Nicolaus muneris orbiAttulit ingenio Daedalicaque manu.Christophorus Mauro plenus bonitate fidequeDux erat. Auctorem, lector, opusque tenes.

Attice, nunc totus Veneta diffunderis urbe,

Cum quondam fuerit copia rara tui.

Gallicus hoc Ienson Nicolaus muneris orbi

Attulit ingenio Daedalicaque manu.

Christophorus Mauro plenus bonitate fideque

Dux erat. Auctorem, lector, opusque tenes.

and then proceeds:

Principis Latine eloquentie M. T. C. liber quinque operum intitulatus finit foeliciter. Impressus Neapoli sub pacifico Ferdinando Sicilie rege anno salutis M.cccc.lxxviii. sedente Xisto quarto Pontifice maximo.The book of the five works of the prince of Latin eloquence, Marcus Tullius Cicero, comes happily to an end. Printed at Naples under Ferdinand the Peaceful, King of Sicily, in the year of salvation 1478, Sixtus IV being Pope.

The book of the five works of the prince of Latin eloquence, Marcus Tullius Cicero, comes happily to an end. Printed at Naples under Ferdinand the Peaceful, King of Sicily, in the year of salvation 1478, Sixtus IV being Pope.

Such an instance as this shows clearly enough that colophons could be copied verbatim without any intention to make the purchaser believe that he was purchasing the original edition, though it must be owned that many printers took no pains to inform him that he wasnotpurchasing it. It is thus a matter of opinion as to whether they deserve the severest condemnation, or whether this should not rather be reserved for the pirates—for such they really were—who seized another printer’s book, colophon and all, merely substituting their own name for his, and thus claiming in some cases all the credit for the preparation of an original edition.

A striking instance of piracy of this kind, with a curious after-story to it, is that of Conrad of Westphalia’s appropriation of Veldener’s edition of Maneken’s “Epistolarum Formulae,” and of the colophon attached to it.Though a wordy and dull composition, this colophon is certainly distinctive enough:

Si te forsan, amice dilecte, nouisse iuuabit quis huius voluminis Impressorie artis productor fuerit atque magister, Accipito huic artifici nomen esse magistro Iohanni Veldener, cui quam certa manu insculpendi, celandi, intorculandi, caracterandi [sic] assit industria: adde et figurandi et effigiandi et si quid in arte secreti est quod tectius oculitur: quamque etiam fidorum comitum perspicax diligentia, ut omnium litterarum imagines splendeant ad gratiam ac etiam cohesione congrua gratiaque congerie mendis castigatis compendeant, tanta quidem concinnitate quod partes inter se et suo congruant universo, ut quoque delectu materie splendoreque forme lucida queque promineant, quo pictionis et connexionis pulchre politure clarique nitoris ecrescat multa uenustas, sunt oculi iudices. Idnam satis facies huius libelli demonstrat, quem multiplicatum magni numeri globo sub placidis atramenti lituris spreto calamo inchoauit, anni septuagesimi sexti aprilis primus perfecitque dies ultimus! Quem artis memorate magistrum si tibi hoc predicto aprili mense cure fuisset querere, facile poteras eundem Louanii impressioni uacantem in monte Calci inuenire. Hoc ideo dixisse uelim ne eius rei inscius permanseris, si forsitan ambegeris. Ubi ars illi sua census erit Ouidius inquit. Ubi et etiam uiuit sua sic sorte et arte contentus, tam felicibus astris, tantaque fortune clementia, ut non inducar credere quod eidem adhuc adesse possit abeundi, ne cogitandi quidem, animi impulsio: id etiam adiecerim quo tam quid poteris quam quid potuisses agnoscas. Vale.Dear friend, if perchance you would fain know who was the producer and master of this volume of the printing art, learn that the craftsman’s name is Master Jan Veldener. Your eyes will tell you what industry he possesses, how sure his hand in cutting, engraving, pressing and stamping, add also in designing and fashioning and whatever secret in the art is more closely hid; how keen-eyed, again, is the diligence of his trusty comrades,so that the shapes of all the letters are pleasantly clear and harmonious, hanging together, with all faults corrected, in a delightful mass, and with such skilful arrangement that the parts are in agreement both with each other and with their whole, so that both by choice of material and splendor of form everything is strikingly distinct, while by his method of inking and joining the letters there is a great increase in the charm of beautiful polish and shining clearness. All this the appearance of the book sufficiently shows, and the multiplying of this in a mass of great number by the gentle spreading of ink, leaving the pen despised, the first day of April, 1476, began, and the last completed. Should you have been anxious to find this master of the commemorated art in this aforesaid month of April, you could easily have found him at Louvain, with leisure for printing, on Flint-hill. This I am anxious to say lest, if haply you are in doubt, you should remain ignorant of the fact. “Where he works there will be his wealth,” says Ovid. There also he lives so content with his lot and craft, under such happy auspices, and with so much favor of fortune, that I cannot be induced to believe that any impulse to depart, or even to think about it, can have come to him. I would also add that by which you may recognize what you will be able to do as well as what you could have done. Farewell.

Dear friend, if perchance you would fain know who was the producer and master of this volume of the printing art, learn that the craftsman’s name is Master Jan Veldener. Your eyes will tell you what industry he possesses, how sure his hand in cutting, engraving, pressing and stamping, add also in designing and fashioning and whatever secret in the art is more closely hid; how keen-eyed, again, is the diligence of his trusty comrades,so that the shapes of all the letters are pleasantly clear and harmonious, hanging together, with all faults corrected, in a delightful mass, and with such skilful arrangement that the parts are in agreement both with each other and with their whole, so that both by choice of material and splendor of form everything is strikingly distinct, while by his method of inking and joining the letters there is a great increase in the charm of beautiful polish and shining clearness. All this the appearance of the book sufficiently shows, and the multiplying of this in a mass of great number by the gentle spreading of ink, leaving the pen despised, the first day of April, 1476, began, and the last completed. Should you have been anxious to find this master of the commemorated art in this aforesaid month of April, you could easily have found him at Louvain, with leisure for printing, on Flint-hill. This I am anxious to say lest, if haply you are in doubt, you should remain ignorant of the fact. “Where he works there will be his wealth,” says Ovid. There also he lives so content with his lot and craft, under such happy auspices, and with so much favor of fortune, that I cannot be induced to believe that any impulse to depart, or even to think about it, can have come to him. I would also add that by which you may recognize what you will be able to do as well as what you could have done. Farewell.

As Veldener’s device is here added, the meaning of the last cryptic sentence appears to be either that authors with books to print who had not found his shop in April might find it by its sign in May, or that readers would be able to recognize the printer’s handiwork in the future books they would have a chance of purchasing, as well as in those already sold out. What Conrad of Westphalia made of it is doubtful, since, without affixing his own mark, he cribbed this sentence with all the rest of the colophon, only substituting his own name and address (“in platea Sancti Quintini”—“in St. Quentin’s Street”) for Veldener’s, altering the date of the inception of the book from April to December, and saying nothing as to when itwas completed. A more disgraceful trick for one printer to play another living in the same town can hardly be imagined, and Holtrop may be right in considering it a deliberate attempt to annoy Veldener and the cause of his leaving Louvain the next year. Strange to say, however, the history of the colophon does not stop here. M. Claudin has shown, in the first volume of his “Histoire de l’imprimerie en France,” that a copy of Maneken’s “Formulae” exists printed in the types of Guillaume Balsarin of Lyons, but with the name of the Paris printer Caesaris substituted for that of Veldener in the colophon. It is clear, therefore, that in an edition now lost to us Caesaris must have played Veldener the same trick as Conrad of Westphalia had already played him, and that this Paris edition must have been reprinted by Balsarin at Lyons without troubling to alter the colophon. Truly there are pitfalls for the unwary in dealing with early books!

Perhaps one reason why colophons were sometimes reprinted as they stood was that a printer without a scholarly “corrector” to aid him had a wholesome dread of plunging into the middle of a Latin sentence. Those who rushed in hastily sometimes left very obvious footprints in the wrong places. Thus Ulrich Han, in printing from one of Schoeffer’s editions of the “Liber sextus decretalium,” changed his well-known “Alma in urbe Maguntina inclyte nacionis germanice quam dei clemencia tam alti ingenii lumine donoque gratuito ceteris terrarum nacionibus preferre illustrareque dignatus est” (see Chapter II), into “Alma in urbe Roma Totius mundi regina et dignissima Imperatrix [sic] que sicut pre ceteris urbibus dignitate preest ita ingeniosis uiris est referta.”

To call Rome “the Queen and most worthy Empress of all the world, which, as it takes precedence of all other cities in dignity, so is it filled with men of wit,” was quitea pleasing variation on Schoeffer’s tune. Unluckily Han did not note that his Queen and Empress ought to be in the ablative, and thus printed “Imperatrix” instead of “Imperatrice.” So again, when we look at the colophon to the third and fourth parts of the “Speculum” of Durandus printed at Venice in 1488, we find reason for suspicion:

Explicit tertia et quarta pars Speculi Guilhelmi Duranti cum additionibus Ioannis Andree et Baldi suis in locis ubique positis. Impressa Venetiis per Magistrum Paganinum de Paganinis Brixiensis, ac Georgium de Arriuabene de Caneto qui salua omnium pace est inter ceteros amandus ac uenerandus propter ipsius in hac arte curam in corrigendis operibus ac in imprimendo charactere. Anno domini M.cccc.lxxxviii. vi die Septembris.Here ends the third and fourth part of the Speculum of Gulielmus Durandus, with the additions of Joannes Andreae and Baldus inserted everywhere in their proper places. Printed at Venice by Master Paganinus de Paganinis of Brescia, and Georgius de Arrivabene de Caneto, who, with due respect to every one, is, among all others, to be loved and revered for his care in this art both in correcting works and in printing them in type. In the year of our Lord 1488, on September 6th.

Here ends the third and fourth part of the Speculum of Gulielmus Durandus, with the additions of Joannes Andreae and Baldus inserted everywhere in their proper places. Printed at Venice by Master Paganinus de Paganinis of Brescia, and Georgius de Arrivabene de Caneto, who, with due respect to every one, is, among all others, to be loved and revered for his care in this art both in correcting works and in printing them in type. In the year of our Lord 1488, on September 6th.

The slip of “Brixiensis” for “Brixiensem” is not reproducible in English, but the reader who notes how the two partners are treated as singular instead of plural will easily see that this colophon could not have been written for them. It appears, indeed, to have been borrowed from Bernardinus de Tridino.

Sometimes the inaccuracies introduced are not of a merely verbal kind. Thus at the end of an edition of the “Fasciculus Temporum” printed by Heinrich Wirzburgat the Cluniac monastery at Rougemont in 1481 we have the following colophon:

Chronica que dicitur fasciculus temporum edita in alma Universitate Colonie Agrippinae super Renum, a quodam deuoto Cartusiensi finit feliciter. Sepius quidem iam impressa sed negligentia Correctorum in diuersis locis a uero originali minus iuste emendata. Nunc uero non sine magno labore ad pristinum statum reducta cum quibusdam additionibus per humilem uirum fratrem Heinricum Wirczburg de Vach, monachum in prioratu Rubei Montis, ordinis cluniacensis, sub Lodouico Gruerie comite magnifico anno domini M.cccc.lxxxi. Et anno precedenti fuerunt aquarum inundationes maxime, ventusque [sic] horribiles multa edificia subuertentes.The Chronicle which is called Fasciculus Temporum, set forth in the bountiful University of Cologne on the Rhine by a certain devout Carthusian, ends happily. Often enough has it been printed already, but by the carelessness of correctors in various places it has not been amended as justly as it ought from the true original. Now, however, not without great labor, it has been restored to its pristine state, with certain additions, by a humble brother, Heinrich Wirzburg of Vach, a monk in the priory of Rougemont, of the Cluniac order, under Count Lodovico Gruerie the Magnificent, in the year of the Lord 1481. And in the preceding year there were the greatest floods and horrible winds, overthrowing many buildings.

The Chronicle which is called Fasciculus Temporum, set forth in the bountiful University of Cologne on the Rhine by a certain devout Carthusian, ends happily. Often enough has it been printed already, but by the carelessness of correctors in various places it has not been amended as justly as it ought from the true original. Now, however, not without great labor, it has been restored to its pristine state, with certain additions, by a humble brother, Heinrich Wirzburg of Vach, a monk in the priory of Rougemont, of the Cluniac order, under Count Lodovico Gruerie the Magnificent, in the year of the Lord 1481. And in the preceding year there were the greatest floods and horrible winds, overthrowing many buildings.

Save that he substituted the address, “by the humble Bernhard Richel, citizen of Basel, in the year of the Lord 1482, on February 20,” this colophon was taken over in its entirety the following year by Richel. To us, until we compare it with the Rougemont version, there may seem no reason for suspicion. But if any one in those days remembered that the year of the great floods was 1480, and not 1481, his doubts may easily have been awakened.A Genevese printer was much more wise, for, while he doubtless kept the Rougemont colophon in his mind, he adapted its local coloring very skilfully, informing us that the book was:

Imprime a Genesue lan mille cccc.xcv auquel an fist si tres grand vent le ix iour de ianuier qu’il fit remonter le Rosne dedans le lac bien ung quart de lieue au-dedans de Geneue.Printed at Geneva the year 1495, in which year there was so great wind on January 9th that it made the Rhone mount back into the lake a full quarter of a league above Geneva.

Imprime a Genesue lan mille cccc.xcv auquel an fist si tres grand vent le ix iour de ianuier qu’il fit remonter le Rosne dedans le lac bien ung quart de lieue au-dedans de Geneue.

Printed at Geneva the year 1495, in which year there was so great wind on January 9th that it made the Rhone mount back into the lake a full quarter of a league above Geneva.

Even when a colophon was in verse it was not safe from emendation, for when Giovanni da Reno of Vicenza in 1478 reprinted the Valdarfer Boccaccio we find him substituting for the line and a half, “Christofal Valdarfer Indi minprese Che naque in Ratispona,” the variant, “Giovanne da Reno quindi minprese Cum mirabile stampa.”

For other instances of more than one printer following the same leader we may note how Koberger in 1496, and Pierre Levet in 1497, both adopt the colophon[11]of the 1485 Cologne edition of the “Destructorium Vitiorum,” with its curious phrase “ad laudem summe Monadis”; how Han in his editions of the Clementine Constitutions in 1473 and 1476, and Wenssler in those of 1476 and 1478, copy the colophon of Schoeffer’s editions, substituting the praises of Rome and Basel for those of Mainz; and how in editions of the Gregorian DecretalsPaganinus de Paganinis in 1489, and Johann Hamann de Landoia in 1491, adopted the favorite tag of Jenson and John of Cologne:

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