Read Ebook: Books and their makers during the Middle Ages Volume II by Putnam George Haven

Font size: 10 px 15 px 20 px 25 px 30 px 35 px

Background color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Text color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Apply/Save settings

Ebook has 1785 lines and 191975 words, and 36 pages

Robert had found it necessary, in order to gain time to prepare for his escape, to temporise with his censors, and to go through the form of submitting to their authority. Their indignation when they found that he had given them the slip was very keen, and according to Beza, the divines went to the point of burning him in effigy. At the time of Estienne's arrival in Geneva, Switzerland had become a place of refuge for Protestant heretics from various parts of Europe, and the exiles were chiefly attracted either to Zurich, as the headquarters of the followers of Zwingli, or to Geneva, as the home of Calvin. A little later, the groups in those cities from Italy, France, and South Germany were added to by a number of divines and scholars from England, whence they had been driven by the persecution under Queen Mary. Among the sojourners from Italy were Lelius and Faustus Socinus from Siena, whose name afterwards gave a designation to the group of Arians known as Socinians. The nephew was, later, active in diffusing Socinianism in Poland, where, however, it failed to secure any lasting foundation. The inscription on his tomb, in Warsaw, is said to read as follows:

One may recall in this connection the description given by Lowell of that later vigorous Protestant, Theodore Parker: "He was so ultra-Cinian, he shocked the Socinians."

There came also from Italy, Bernardus Ochinus, of Siena, and the more famous Peter Martyr , from Florence, the latter having, however, more recently been lecturing in Oxford, where he had been suspended from his lectureship on the accession of Queen Mary. A companion to Martyr was John Jewell, also from Oxford, who, later, became a bishop. Names like the above will give an impression of the character of the circle in which Estienne now found himself. It was not only for the scholar a personal gratification to be thrown into association with intellectual leaders skilled in critical and theological learning, but it must also have been of no little service for the reorganisation of his publishing business to have at hand a group of advisers and of editors who would have a keen personal interest in a large proportion at least of his scholarly undertakings.

The following titles of the more important publications issued by Robert after the establishment of the Geneva Press will give an impression of the general direction taken by his business.

In his "Histoire Critique du Nouveau Testament," Father Simon, a good Catholic authority, has entered into a minute examination of the points at issue between Robert and his accusers, and his decisions are almost uniformly in favour of the publisher.

"Cat?chisme," by Jean Calvin.

"La Forme des Pri?res Eccl?siastiques."

With these were a number of other devotional and doctrinal treatises printed under the immediate direction of Calvin. These treatises, being planned for popular circulation, were largely printed in French, and the Geneva list includes, in fact, a much larger proportion of works in the vernacular than had been issued in Paris.

"Exposition Continuelle sur les Evangiles."

"Ambrosii Calepini Dictionarium."

"Defensio Orthodoxae Fidei de Sacra Trinitate, contra prodigiosos errores Michaelis Serveti Hispani, ubi ostenditur haereticos jure gladii coercendos esse, et nominatim de homine hoc tam impio justi et merito sumptum Genevae fuisse Supplicium, per Johannem Calvinum."

"De Haereticis a Civili Magistratu puniendis Libellus, Theodori Bezae."

It is somewhat to be wondered at that Robert, fresh from harassing persecution in Paris, should have been willing to place his imprint upon this argument of Calvin as to the rightfulness of the punishment of Servetus, and upon the companion treatise which the zeal of Beza had prompted him to compose in defence of the right of the civil magistrate to punish heretics. Assuming that by this time Estienne had thrown in his lot entirely with the Calvinists, it is nevertheless to be borne in mind that the record and the utterances of the man had heretofore shown him to be a consistent advocate of intellectual liberty. Even after his sojourn in Geneva, there is on record no utterance of Robert's which is not in accord with this view of his own personal predilections. Robert had, moreover, always taken such high ground as to publishing responsibility, that he cannot escape being held accountable for the approval implied in the association of his imprint with these zealous defences of an act that must always remain a serious blot on the history of Protestantism.

"Calvinus in Acta Apostolorum."

"Liber Psalmorum Davidis."

"Dictionnaire des Mots Fran?ois tourn?s en Latin."

"Adagiorum chiliades quatuor, cum sesquicenturia Erasmi, cum H. Stephani animadversionibus." Folio.

The more important impressions were:

"Kimhi in Habacuc, recognitus a Vatablo."

"De Coena Domini plana et perspicua tractatio in qua Joachimi Westphali calumniae postremum editae refelluntur, Theodoro Beza auctore." 8vo.

"Calvini Commentarii in quinque libros Mosis." Folio.

"Glossae in tres Evangelistas, cum Calvini Commentariis, adjecto seorsim Johanne." Folio.

"Harmonia ex tribus Evangelistis, adjuncto seorsim Johanne, cum Calvini Commentariis." Folio.

"Le Nouveau Testament, revu et corrig? sur le Grec par l'avis des Ministres de Gen?ve."

"Calvini Institutio Christianae Religionis, in libros quatuor nunc primum digesta, certisque capitibus distincta." Folio.

The exceptional personal erudition of Robert Estienne, the distinctive importance of his publishing undertakings, the zeal evinced by him from the beginning of his career for the advancement of learning and for critical scholarship, and the courageous fight made by him against the assumption of the bigoted divines of the Sorbonne of the right to exercise censorship over a literature of the very language of which they were for the most part ignorant, constitute the grounds for my selection of him as the most worthy representative of the printer-publishers of France of the sixteenth century, and for presenting with some little detail the chief incidents of his career. While the early memoirs give pretty full information concerning the literary side of Estienne's publishing undertakings and present also the history of his long series of contests in behalf of the freedom of the Press, the records of the business details of his enterprises are scanty and inadequate. We have no such information as has been preserved in the account books of Aldus, Koberger, and Plantin, showing the cost of the production of his books, or the amounts paid to editors and authors. The extent of the financial aid extended to Robert by the wise liberality of King Francis is also not clearly specified, although we can realise how important in many ways this royal assistance must have been, and especially in connection with the use of the great fonts of Greek type for the making of which the King had paid. We know that he was the only one of the pioneer printers who secured any intelligent and effective co-operation from a royal treasury, and we know also that important as this co-operation was, it was in the end more than offset by the disastrous antagonism of the ecclesiastics of the Sorbonne, whose persistency finally triumphed over both king and printer.

Information is also wanting as to the channels which were available for the distribution of the books when made, and concerning the methods employed for their sale. It is, in fact, very difficult to understand how, during a period of frequent war, when communications were irregular and travel was difficult not only between France and the adjoining states, but throughout the kingdom itself, it could have proved practicable to secure a remunerative sale for costly works of such special character as the majority of those issued by Estienne. The difficulty must have been considerable even in making known to scholars throughout Europe the fact of the publication of the books, and after the orders were received, there remained the task of making the deliveries and of collecting the payments. It is further to be borne in mind that the adverse influence of the divines of the Sorbonne must have hampered materially the demand from university and ecclesiastical centres for the editions of the Scriptures and for all the works possessing any theological character, while it was the case that of the Bibles at least, the sale was absolutely blocked for several long periods. Notwithstanding all the difficulties and obstacles, Estienne must have succeeded in building up throughout Europe a remunerative demand for his publications, for at the time of his migration from France he was reputed to be a man of means, and even after all the losses and expenses attending the sudden closing of his concern in Paris and its re-establishment in Geneva, he was able, a few years later, to leave to his son a business on an assured foundation, and resources for carrying it on. An important part of these resources consisted in a great collection of texts, both printed and in manuscript, and in a comprehensive and valuable library. The career of Robert Estienne was assuredly both distinctive and honourable, and the services rendered by him to the cause of scholarly literature fairly entitle him to the name of the Aldus of France.

Press were not willing to consent, and the negotiation therefore fell through. The incident indicates that after the lapse of a century and a half, the Greek type planned by Estienne was still considered to excel fonts of later workmanship.

THE LATER ESTIENNES AND CASAUBON.

IT is not necessary for the purpose of this study to give the record in detail of the careers and publishing undertakings of all the printers of the great family of the Estiennes. I have been interested in presenting with some fulness the account of the life and work of Robert, because he stands out as the most distinctive and forcible member of a famous literary family, and because his experience illustrates very fairly the characteristic features and the chief difficulties of the business of publishing books in France in the first half of the sixteenth century. The business careers of the brothers and of the descendants of Robert should be mentioned, however, if only to indicate the exceptional position occupied by this noteworthy family in the history of printing and publishing, and the extent of the influence exercised by it through successive generations upon the production of scholarly literature.

In order to indicate the direction of his publishing interests, I select a few of the more important of the titles from his catalogue.

"Institutiones Linguae Syriacae, Assyriacae atque Thalmudicae una cum AEthiopicae atque Arabicae collatione, Angelo Caninio Anglarensi, authore." 4to.

Petrus Bunellus was a native of Toulouse, who had studied in Italy, where he had for four years lived with Paul Manutius. He had evidently shared the interest of his friend and host in the writings of Cicero.

"Histoire du si?ge de Metz en 1552, par Barth?lemy de Salignac."

"Traict? de la guerre de Malte, par de Villegagnon." 4to.

"De Latinis et Graecis nominibus arborum fruticum, herbarum, piscium et avium liber; ex Aristotele, Theophrasto, Galeno," etc. This is described as an original and learned work.

The famous scholar Scaliger charges Charles Estienne with vanity and irritability of temper, but a publisher may be angry occasionally without any permanent imputation upon his morals or character. Scaliger had, by a breach of promise and by ill usage, given to Estienne just cause of offence. He had promised to place with Estienne the publication for France of all his works, while he afterwards committed to Vascosan and others such of them as seemed most likely to prove profitable undertakings. To Charles Estienne he offered those which on account of their special character promised neither popularity nor advantage. Under these circumstances, Estienne returned Scaliger's manuscripts with an expression of indignation.

Among his more important publications may be cited:

"Psalmi Aliquot a Theodoro Beza versi."

"De recta et emendata linguae Anglicae scriptione Dialogus, Thoma Smitho equestris ordinis Anglo authore." 4to.

Scaliger, while an Italian by race and a Frenchman by birth, is more usually associated with Holland, where he passed the greater part of his working years. As professor of belles-lettres in Leyden, he had among his pupils the celebrated Grotius. He was himself possibly the most noted of the group of Protestant scholars whose learning and attainments secured for the Reformers of the time an intellectual superiority over their Catholic opponents, a superiority which had as one result a decided revival of letters within the Church of Rome. The original editions of his books were issued in Leyden, but he was able, as noted above, to arrange for the publication in Paris of authorised editions from which he derived a profit, and of certain of these works editions appeared also in Basel.

George Buchanan, poet and historian, is best known in connection with his service as tutor for Mary Queen of Scots, and later, as preceptor for her son James. The latter was possibly largely indebted to Buchanan for his interest and proficiency in classical studies. Sir Thomas Smith was the English Ambassador at Paris. The interest of scholarly foreigners such as those named, in securing for their books the imprint of Estienne, indicates that the repute of the firm had already extended beyond the limits of France.

Henry Estienne the second, second son of Robert, carried on in Geneva, after the death of his father, what may be called the Protestant branch of the publishing concern, for a few years, when he returned to Paris and established there a second Estienne Press. He was apparently the most finished scholar of his scholarly family, and from an early age, before he had entered upon business responsibilities, we find him engaged in work as editor and translator. His father had taken special pains with his education, and as a part of his general training had caused him to travel as a young man in Italy, England, and the Low Countries.

Expenditure for the promotion of literature was still very exceptional, and it is perhaps not surprising that the family of Huldric considered his patronage of letters as evidence of a deranged mind. They instituted a legal process, and succeeded in inducing the court to take their view of Huldric's actions. They secured a decree which caused him to be declared incapable of the administration of his own property, and he was for a time placed under guardians. Eventually, however, he recovered possession of his property, and in fact succeeded also to the estate of his brother. With increased resources, he resumed his interest in collecting books, and at his death, in Heidelberg, in 1584, he bequeathed to the Palatinate a very fine library. It is probable, however, that his confinement had tended to mitigate his ardour for expending money in printing books, and his relations with Estienne were not resumed. The several experiences endured by this would-be German Maecenas may have helped to discourage future similar attempts to further the production of good literature. If the expenditure of money in the production of books and the collection of libraries were to be accepted as evidences of mental derangement, it is not surprising that the printers and publishers of Germany secured during the sixteenth century very little patronage or compensation from the nobility of the land.

Huldric Fugger was, however, not the only one of his family who interested himself in literature. His elder brother, Joannes Jacobus, had a fine collection of books both printed and in manuscript, and was proficient in Greek. Other members of the family were in relations with Paul Manutius in Italy, with Koberger of Nuremberg, and with Froben of Basel.

In 1562, Estienne completed the publication of certain theological works which had been left unfinished in Geneva at the time of his father's death,--an Exposition of the New Testament and an Exposition of the Psalms.

The editor, a certain Marloratus, a Huguenot minister at Rouen, was unfortunately, before the printing was completed, hanged as a heretic, under the direction of the Duke of Guise, but the books themselves were not suppressed nor was the publisher interfered with. In fact, the Faculty of the Sorbonne appears for the time to have suspended its censorious watchfulness over heretical publications, perhaps because it found its hands sufficiently full with the active work of suppressing by fire, gibbet, and sword the heretics themselves.

Henry Estienne had, as stated, established his printing-office in Paris, where his business may be considered as in a measure a continuation of the concern of his father Robert, although the post of printer to the King had, as we have noted, been given to his uncle. Henry continued, however, to print a certain portion of his books in Geneva, although it is not clear whether or not he retained the control of, or even an ownership in, the Press which had been established there by his father. He appears at this time to have divided his publishing undertakings, executing at Paris reprints of the classics and of works in general literature, and reserving for the Geneva Press theological works which were likely to give offence in a period of "religious irritation." This term is, I may mention, Maittaire's, and it is perhaps not too strong a description of a period in which a divine who had taken no part in politics could be hanged simply for editing a Protestant commentary.

I add some further selections of certain of the more important of the titles from Henry's Catalogue.

This is Calvin's Catechism, translated into Greek by Henry himself.

"De abusu linguae Graecae in quibusdem vocibus, quas Latina usurpat admonitio." 8vo. Of this treatise Henry was author as well as publisher.

Share on: WhatsApp @Hash Facebook Tweet