HARSY (OLIVIER DE), bookseller at Paris, from 1556 to 1584, used Gueullard's mark on several works written by Nicolas Ellain; among others, 'Elegia libri duo ad Joach. Bellaium, quo adhuc vivo eos scripsit.—Parisiis, e typogr. Olivarii de Harsy, ad Cornu cervi, in clauso Brunello'; quarto, 1560.[476] I have no idea why de Harsy adopted Gueullard's mark.

HOTOT (FABIAN), printer at Orléans. See BADE (CONRAD).

HOUIC (ANTOINE), bookseller at Paris. See REGNAULT (BARBE).

KERVER (THIELMAN II), printer and bookseller at Paris, from 1530 to 1550.—One mark, representing the arms of the Kervers; a 'gril' (cratis) held by two unicorns, with the letters T. K. Below is the printer's name in full: 'Thieman [sic] Kerver.' This mark appears on a book of Hours of 1550.

LE BLAS. See FEZANDAT.

LE COQ (JEAN) printer at Troyes, from 1506 to 1525.—One mark, representing Le Coq's arms (a cock), hanging from a tree; below is the name, 'Jean Le Coq' (Silvestre, no. 875). This mark appears in a 'Graduel' of 1521, previously described.[477] We find it again in a book of Hours according to the use of Toul, published in 1541, which contains many other engravings signed with the double cross.[478] Also in a small book published in our own day by Aubry the bookseller[479]; that is to say, this particular woodcut is still in existence and belongs to M. Aubry.

LE NOIR (PHILIPPE), printer-bookseller at Paris, from 1520 to 1539. Three marks,[480] representing two negroes (noirs) holding a shield with Philippe le Noir's initials.

MALLARD (OLIVIER), printer-bookseller at Paris, from 1536 to 1542.

MALLARD (JEAN), bookseller at Rouen.

MARNEF, DE: Enguilbert, Jean and Geoffroy, brothers, were printers and booksellers at Paris and Poitiers, together or separately, from 1510 to 1550. Their mark was a pelican, piercing his side in order to nourish his young. Tory engraved for them at least two marks: one which appears on a book printed by Enguilbert and Jean, in Poitiers, in 1536,[481] entitled 'Les angoisses et remedes d'amour du Traverseur en son adolescence' (by Jean Bouchet), with this device: 'Eximii amoris typus'; it is reproduced by Dibdin,[482] and by Silvestre (no. 152).[483] The other may be seen in the Print Section of the Bibliothèque Nationale, among Tory's work; the pelican and its young are in an oval border, around which is this device: 'Principium ex fide, finis in charitate' (Silvestre, no. 1044). [See also the reproduction at the beginning of this section, page 265.]

MENIER (MAURICE), printer at Paris, from 1545 to 1566.—One mark (Silvestre, no. 789), representing a man closing a woman's mouth, with this device, 'Coercenda volvptas.'

MERLIN (GUILLAUME), bookseller at Paris, from 1538 to 1570.—One mark, representing a swan whose neck is twined about a cross, surrounded by the device, 'In hoc signo vinces.' The Lorraine cross is barely visible in the lowest ornament of the engraving. I have seen this mark on the first page of a 'Missale ecclesie Parisiensis,' in folio, without date, printed by Iolande Bonhomme, widow of the first Thielman Kerver, as is shown by the presence of that printer's mark on the first page of the text; it may be that there are copies in her name. This book is without date, but should be placed between the years 1532 and 1552, which embrace the incumbency of Jean du Bellay as Archbishop of Paris. Merlin's mark is .095 of a millimetre high by .067 wide.[484]

MOREL (GUILLAUME), printer-bookseller at Paris, from 1548 to 1564.—One mark, reproduced by M. Silvestre (no. 164), who informs me that his engraver accidentally omitted the Lorraine cross. 'This mark,' he adds, 'was used later by Estienne Prevosteau, Morel's son-in-law, who subsequently reëngraved it, or had it reëngraved, with his initials, E. P. in place of Tory's mark.'[485] It represents a capital theta (Θ), about which are twined two winged serpents, and in the centre an angel, seated on the cross-piece of the Θ, with a lighted torch in her hand.

NIVELLE (SEBASTIEN), printer and bookseller, at Paris, from 1550 to 1601. One mark, representing two storks in the air, one being carried and fed by the other; with this verse from Exodus (XX, 12), to explain the drawing: 'Honora patrem tuum et matrem tuam, et sis longævus super terram.' I have seen this mark on an octavo edition of St. John Chrysostom ('Homeliæ duæ'), printed by Sebastien Nivelle in 1554. It is reproduced by M. Silvestre (no. 201), but the Lorraine cross is barely visible on this impression. I have seen also another mark of Nivelle's representing the same subject, with analogous designs suggesting filial love in the four corners; but it is not signed with the cross although it is absolutely in Tory's manner.

NYVERD (GUILLAUME), printer and bookseller at Paris, from 1516.—One mark, or, to speak more precisely, a small border in the style of one of the marks of Simon de Colines. At the foot, in a scroll, are the words, 'Nasci, laborare, mori.' This border appears in a small pamphlet, undated, in pure gothic type, entitled, 'La Reformation des tavernes et destruction de gourmandise, en forme de dialogue'; a small octavo of 4 leaves, of which M. Cigogne possesses the only known copy (1856). At the end are the words, 'Paris, by Guillaume Nyverd, printer.' So that Lottin is mistaken in saying that he was a bookseller only. He gives only one date for his career in the trade—1516—but our engraving is certainly later than 1520. M. Silvestre extends Nyverd's business career to 1559, on what grounds I do not know; but he also calls him a bookseller only. The text of the 'Reformation des tavernes,' etc., was reprinted on page 223 of the second volume of the 'Recueil des poésies françoises des XV et XVI siècles,' collected and annotated by M. Anatole de Montaiglon.[486]

NYVERD (GUILLAUME DE), probably the son of the preceding, printer-bookseller at Paris, from 1550 to 1580.—One mark, representing the arms of France borne by two winged genii. Above them a head with wings; from its mouth come two garlands in the style of those on the last plate of 'Champ fleury.' At the left, at the foot of the cut, the letters G. N., and at the right the Lorraine cross. This engraving, which is 8 centimetres wide by 11 high, was undoubtedly executed when Guillaume de Nyverd was appointed king's printer, which title he held in 1561, according to Lottin. In all probability he held it earlier than that. However that may be, I have seen this mark, already much worn, in an impression of 1572: 'Prognostication touchant le mariage du tres honoré et tres aimé Henry, par la grace de Dieu roy de Navarre, et de tres illustre princesse Marguerite de France, calculée par maistre Bernard Abbatia, docteur medecin et astrologue du tres chrestien roy de France' [Charles IX]. There are in the Bibliothèque Nationale at least three editions of the little pamphlet, made by the same printer at about the same time, that is to say immediately after the marriage of the King of Navarre with Marguerite de Valois. All three have this engraving on the last page, but in every case it is accompanied by an addition of much later date, namely, the device of Charles IX (two pillars joined by a scroll containing the words, 'Pietate et Jvsticia'), above the arms of France. The volume contains also numerous other engravings and letters bearing Guillaume de Nyverd's initials. It is worth while to call attention to the fact that de Nyverd does not assume the title of king's printer in this book, although, as we have seen above, his appointment was of much earlier date.

PALLIER (JEAN), called 'Marchand,' printer and bookseller at Metz, from 1539 to 1548.—One mark (Silvestre, no. 156), representing a fleur-de-lis held in the air by two naked children, with the letters I. P. in the field.[487] Jean Pallier, or, better, Palyer (in Latin, Palierus), did business also in Paris, for I have seen several books of his dated from that city in 1541 or 1542, with the mark described above. I will mention, among others: (1) 'Epitomæ singularum distinctionum libri primi sententiarum, cum versibus memorialibus Arnoldi Vesaliensis,' etc., 16mo, Paris, 1541; and (2) 'Topica Marci Tullii Ciceronis,' etc., 'ex officina Joannis Palierii, e regione Navarræ, sub signo Leonis Coronati,' 4to, 1542.

PARIS (NICOLE), printer at Troyes, from 1542 to 1547.—One mark (Silvestre, no. 175), representing a child clinging to the branches of a palm-tree (?), beneath the device, 'Et Colligam.'

PERIER (CHARLES), bookseller at Paris, from 1550 to 1557.—One mark, found on the title of the folio entitled, 'Les quatre livres d'Albert Durer ... de la proportion des parties et pourtraicts des corps humains, traduits par Louys Meigret,' etc., 'chez Charles Perier ... à l'enseigne du Bellerophon, 1557.'[488] This bookseller issued two editions of Dürer's book in the same year, one in Latin and the other in French, both illustrated with the same cuts. I am unable to say which appeared first. He had already published, in 1555, for Louis Meigret, a translation of 'Les XII livres de Robert Valturin, touchans la discipline militaire,' in folio, with engravings, in which his mark appears, signed with the double cross. The sign of Bellerophon was retained by Charles Perier's son Thomas.

PETIT (OUDIN), bookseller at Paris from 1541.—One mark (Silvestre, no. 103), representing a shield bearing a fleur-de-lis, and held by two lions; in the field the letters O. P.

PORTE (MAURICE DE LA), bookseller at Paris from 1524 to 1548.—One mark used by his widow in the volume entitled, 'M. A. Mureti Juvenilia'; octavo, 1553.[489] Maurice de la Porte's widow sold his plant to Gabriel Buon, who used the marks of the deceased from 1558 to 1587. They represent a man carrying a valise at the door (à la porte) of a house; one of them has the device, 'Omnia mea mecum porto.' The man is Bias,[490] according to La Caille. About the same time there was a printer at Lyon named Hugues de la Porte, whose mark represented Samson carrying away the gates (portes) of Gaza in his arms, with the device, 'Libertatem meam mecum porto.' (He also published a folio Latin Bible in 1542.)[491]

PREVOSTEAU (ESTIENNE). See MOREL (GUILLAUME).

REGNAULT (BARBE), bookseller at Paris from 1556 to about 1560.—One mark, representing an elephant carrying a tower on his back, with the device, 'Sicut elephas sto'; height 7½ centimetres, width 5½ centimetres. Barbe was undoubtedly the daughter of François Regnault, who died in 1552, and who had a similar mark.[492] François Regnault's mark was retained by his widow, Madeleine Boursette, who added to it her initials, M. B., and did business in her own name until 1555. Barbe Regnault's mark first appears, so far as my knowledge goes, in a small octavo, printed about 1556, entitled, 'Description de la prinse de Calais et de Guynes, composée par forme de style de proces par M. G. de M.' (Here the mark.) 'A Paris, chez Barbe Regnault, rue Sainct-Jacques, à l'enseigne de l'Elephant.'[493] La Caille informs us of other works published about the same time by Barbe Regnault: 'Monstre d'abus contre Michel Nostradamus,' 1558; J. Seve, 'Supplication aux rois,' ... 'de faire la paix entre eux,' 1559. In 1560 she published a book by Estienne Brulefer, in octavo, entitled, 'Identitatum et distinctionum ... traditarum compendiosa contractio'; then comes the mark, and below it an imprint in which Barbe styles herself the widow of André Barthelin.[494] I am unable to say whether this is the same man whom La Caille and Lottin call André Berthelin, and who published in 1544 a work entitled, 'Francisci Georgii Venali ... de Harmonia mundi totius cantica tria'; folio, Paris, 'apud Andream Berthelin, via ad divum Jacobum, in domo Guilelmi Rolandi, sub insigne Aureæ Coronæ, et in vico Longobardorum in domo ejusdem Rolandi.'[495] If he is the same man, we must assume that he was not yet married to Barbe Regnault, for we see that, while he lived, as she did, on rue Saint-Jacques, he had a different sign. Indeed, I am inclined to think that Barbe did not adopt the 'Elephant' until after the death of Madeleine Boursette, François Regnault's widow, about 1556. However that may be, La Caille says that Barbe Regnault's mark passed into the hands of Thibault Bessault, then to his son Jean, and finally to Antoine Houic. I have seen a book published by the last-named in 1582, embellished with Barbe Regnault's 'Elephant.'

ROBINOT (GILLES I), bookseller at Paris, from 1554 to 1575.—One mark (Silvestre, no. 686), representing Icarus hurled into the sea for not following the advice of Dædalus, his father, not to approach too near the sun lest that luminary should melt the wax with which the wings of our presumptuous youth were fastened to his body. In a scroll are these words, 'Ne quid nimis.' This mark was used as late as 1619 by Gilles Robinot the second, son of the first Gilles[496]; it is .05 of a millimetre high by .047 wide. See SERTENAS.

ROFFET (PIERRE), called 'Le Faulchoir,' bookseller at Paris, from 1525 to 1537.—One mark (Silvestre, no. 150) representing a mower (faucheur) appears in a book printed in 1536.[497]

ROIGNY (JEAN DE), bookseller at Paris, from 1529 to 1562.—I know two marks of de Roigny, signed with the Lorraine cross. The older is the one that appears in a superb edition of Pliny's 'Letters,' printed by Josse Bade in 1533, in folio (Silvestre, no. 674).[498] It represents a man and a woman, each holding a scroll containing a Latin motto; the man's reads thus: 'Nec me labor iste gravabit'; and the woman's, 'Spes premii solatium est laboris.' In the sky is Fortune with her wheel and the horn of plenty, and this device in a scroll beneath: 'Quod differtur non aufertur.' The second mark, which was adopted by Jean de Roigny after the death of his father-in-law, Josse Bade, in 1535, is the 'Prelum ascensianum,' but reëngraved (Silvestre, no. 787); for Bade's typographical plant passed into the hands of another son-in-law of his, Michel de Vascosan, who continued to use his father-in-law's old woodcuts, especially his mark, badly worn as it was. As for Robert Estienne, Bade's third son-in-law, his father-in-law's death caused no change in his typographical arrangements; he still retained the 'Olive-tree' which he has made so celebrated.

SERTENAS (VINCENT), bookseller at Paris, from 1534 to 1561.—One mark, which was used on two opuscula, in octavo, of 1561; they are usually bound in the same volume, and are entitled: (1) 'Régime de vivre et conservation des corps humains,' etc.; (2) 'Recueil de plusieurs secrets très-utiles pour la santé,' etc. This mark represents the initials V. S. interlaced, in a medallion above which is the sun, with a genie on each side; and below, the device, 'Vincenti non victo.' We also find Robinot's mark, described above, in certain books published by Sertenas. I will mention among others the 'Recueil des rimes et proses, by E. P.; octavo, 1555.[499] Presumably, it was because Robinot was the printer that he placed his mark on the books.

VIVIAN (THIELMAN), bookseller at Paris in 1539.—One mark (Silvestre, no. 725), which appears in the second part of the 'Grand Marial de la mère de vie,'[500] translated by Adam de Saint-Victor. This second part is entitled, 'A la très-pure et immaculée Conception de la Vierge'; quarto, 1539. Vivian lived in Clos Bruneau; his mark bore this device, 'Post tenebras spero lucem' in a scroll, above a fountain guarded by two unicorns; below are the letters T. V., and still lower, 'Thielman Vivian.'

APPENDICES.
I

'By contracts of September 5 and 8, 1507, Jean Thory, of Saint-Privé,[501] and Philippe Thoreye, his wife, give their two daughters, Jehanne Thorye and Perron Thorye, in marriage to Thevenin and François Leconte, sons of Jean Leconte.' Among the provisions of Perron's contract is one to the effect that Jean Thory and his wife settle a dowry of 40 livres tournois on their daughter: 'and this in satisfaction of all claim upon father and mother, be it in respect of furniture or of inheritance, which said claim the said future bride, with the authority of her said future husband, hath renounced and doth by these presents renounce, in favour of her father and mother, of maistre Geoffroye, André, Antoine and Michell Thoris, children of said Jean and Philippe, save for the power to,' etc.[502]

Thus it appears that Geofroy was the oldest of the brothers and sisters, as he is named first in the document. Now, as two of his sisters were of marriageable age in 1507, and as he is called maistre, it is probable that he himself was more than twenty-five. That is why I have placed his birth about 1480.

2. Of his Descendants.

Jean Toubeau, printer and bookseller at Bourges, who died at Paris in 1685, while on a mission for his native place,[503] wrote the following in the preface to his 'Institutes consulaires,' printed by himself in 1682, three years before his death: 'I have not been impelled to undertake and write this work by the examples of the illustrious members of my profession. Nor is it the example of those of my own family who have given their works to the public: Geofroy Tory, professor in the University of Paris, and a printer and bookseller in the same city, who was so prolific that, proposing to put forth a book which should teach the scope and proportions of those beautiful roman letters which we use to-day in printing, he could not forbear to produce a book overflowing with learning, which was followed by numerous others of instruction, which are so well known that it is needless to give a list of them here, especially as M. de la Thaumassière gives them a whole chapter in our history.'

It is evident from this passage that Toubeau was related to Tory, but it is not clear how the relationship came about; and La Thaumassière does not mention Tory in his 'Histoire du Berry,' printed a few years later by François Toubeau, Jean's son, despite the promises which he seems to have made to Jean, who had transferred to him the duty of making known to posterity that illustrious son of his province.

The only author able to assist us at all in our investigations is Moréri, who, in the article on Jean Toubeau in his great historical dictionary, says that he was the great-great-grandson of Tory, on his mother's side. This statement should be exact, and the article appears to be written from information furnished by the Toubeau family; but all that we can determine from it is that Toubeau was a descendant of Tory in the fourth degree. Whether he descended from a son or daughter of Geofroy, I have been unable to discover. To elucidate this fact, I wrote to M. Auguste Toubeau, judge of the civil court at Bourges, and this was his reply, dated March 5, 1856: 'I should have been glad to give you the information you desire about Tory. But I have no documents or family papers which establish his relationship to Jean and Hilaire Toubeau. I do not know what connection there was between them and Tory, and I learned that there was such a connection only from what Moréri says of it.'

Failing family papers, I made fruitless efforts to fix the relationship between the Toubeaus and Tory. Finding it impossible to reach any certain result, I have abandoned this search, which has no bearing upon the history of our illustrious typographer. The Toubeaus alone are interested in the solution of the question; I leave to them the task of proving their kinship.

POSTSCRIPT.—It may be surmised that Bonaventure Torinus, bookseller of Bourges, who caused to be printed at that city, in 1595, by the widow of Nicolas Levez, the 'Epitome juris civilis,' by an unknown author, and 'Julii Pauli receptarum sententiarum libri V,'[504] was Tory's son, for he wrote his name in Latin in the same way that Tory wrote it; but was it from a daughter of Tory or from a daughter of this Bonaventure that Toubeau descended? It is impossible for me to say. The lateness of the period at which Bonaventure makes his appearance leads me to believe that he did not see the light until Tory had reached an advanced age. Indeed, if we compare the dates, we shall find that this son of Tory cannot have come into the world before 1530, for, starting from that year, he would have been sixty-five years old in 1595, when his 'Epitome juris' was printed, and there is no reason to believe that he died very soon thereafter. For my own part, I believe that he was not born until after the publication of 'Champ fleury,' and that his Christian name was an allusion to his late birth.[505] In that case, we can understand why he did not succeed to the paternal establishment: he was only two or three years old at Geofroy's death—too young to think of taking his place; so that that duty fell to Geofroy's pupils, whoever they may have been. As for Bonaventure, the family traditions naturally led him back to Bourges, and the trade that he adopted brought him still nearer to his father.

II

VERSES IN HONOUR OF GEOFROY TORY, PRINTED AT THE HEAD OF PALSGRAVE'S GRAMMAR.[506]

'Ejusdem [Leonardi] Coxi ad eruditum virum Gefridum TROY[507] de Burges[508] Gallum, Campi floridi authorem, quem ille sua lingua Champ fleury vocat, nomine omnium Anglorum, phaleutium.

Remarks on the foregoing lines.

The numerous errors of all sorts which disfigure Palsgrave's book (a very interesting book, none the less)—errors of which the foregoing lines afford several specimens—should have humbled to some extent the national vanity of the author, who cries out incessantly, throughout his bulky volume, against the ignorance of French printers. He should, in any event, have remembered that English typography was the very humble daughter of French typography, which latter not only trained the first English artist (Caxton), but also gave him his two most illustrious successors,—Wynkyn de Worde and Pinson,—the last named of whom did in fact print a part of Palsgrave's book.

A modern Englishman, David Baker, has gone even farther than Palsgrave; he says, speaking of Palsgrave's work: 'the French nation, so proud to-day of the universality of its language, seems to owe it to England.' To which M. Génin retorts: 'Baker reasons backward. The French language did not come into universal use because it pleased Palsgrave to write a grammar; on the contrary, Palsgrave composed his grammar because the French language was already universal. This universality was a fact, admitted before Palsgrave's birth,[509] and others before him had tried to draw up rules to facilitate the study of French by foreigners. Palsgrave names three to whom he acknowledges that his work is greatly indebted.

'Leonard Coxe exults more modestly and with more propriety than David Baker, for he seems to attribute to Geofroy Tory the honour of having called forth Palsgrave's grammar. To be sure, a comparison of dates seems to leave little likelihood to that conjecture, for the Frenchman's work and the Englishman's are only about a year apart; but I must notice here one curious fact which has not been noticed by the bibliographers. On the title-page of the English book we find the date 1530, and on the last leaf, "Printing completed July 18, 1530." But the king's licence to print, at the beginning of the volume, is dated, "At our Castle of Ampthill, the second of September, in the year of our reign the XXII." Now, as Henry VIII succeeded to the throne in 1509, after Easter, the twenty-second year of his reign was the year 1531,[510] and "Champ fleury" appeared early in 1529. So that this gives us an interval of three years.[511] In this view Leonard Coxe's words have genuine force, and the point of concurrence which Palsgrave congratulates himself upon finding in "Champ fleury" and "Lesclaircissement" may not be so fortuitous as he chooses to state.'

However, as M. Génin goes on to say, 'this honour, claimed by the English, of having been the first to write upon the French language, is, all things considered, simply an act of homage to France; for if our neighbours had awaited from a foreign nation the first book on the English language, perhaps they would be awaiting it still.'

III

In the 'Acta Facultatis medicinæ Parisiensis,'[512] at the end, we read as follows:—

'Die Martis 18 febr. 1532 [1533, n. s.]....

'Die sabbati sequenti, vocata est Universitas in ecclesia Mathurinorum, super tribus articulis: clausione rotuli, resignatione cure Sanctorum Cosme et Damiani, et receptione vigesimi quinti librarii Universitatis. Clausus est rotulus solito more; admissa est resignatio permutationis causa et sine prejudicio turni, et admissus est vigesimus quintus librarius Gauffridus Torier [sic], dono regio. Ubi supplicavit magister Jacobus Japhet pro pastillaria.'

(Translation.)

'On the following Saturday [February 22, 1533], the University was called together at the Church of the Mathurins. There were three articles in the order of the day: Closing of the register [of benefices]; resignation of the curé of Saint-Come and Saint-Damien; reception of a twenty-fifth bookseller to the University. The register was closed according to the usual form. The resignation was accepted, by way of exchange, without prejudice to the next in turn. Geofroy Tory was admitted as twenty-fifth bookseller, by presentation of the king. At this same session Maître Jacques Japhet prayed for leave to present his "pastillary" thesis.'

The only item that interests us in this extract from the proceedings of the Faculty of Medicine is the passage relating to Tory. We see that in 1533 he was made the twenty-fifth bookseller to the University, by command of King François I. Up to that time there had been only twenty-four (see M. Didot's 'Essai,' col. 744), and they undoubtedly went back to that consecrated number after the death of Tory, in whose behalf an exception had been made.

IV

The edition of the 'Cosmography' of Pope Pius II is dated at the Collège du Plessis, October 2, 1509. Tory was at the Collège du Plessis as late as May 10, 1510.[513]

On August 18, 1512, we find him installed at the Collège Coqueret; and a little later at the Collège de Bourgogne.[514]

About 1518, having joined the fraternity of booksellers, he went to live on rue Saint-Jacques, opposite the Écu de Bâle, which was then used as a sign by the famous printer Chrétien Wechel. The latter's establishment was on the right going up rue Saint-Jacques, near the church of Saint-Benoît.

About 1526 Tory established himself on the Petit-Pont, near Hôtel-Dieu, but did not give up his shop on rue Saint-Jacques, at the sign of the Pot Cassé.

Early in 1531, he changed his abode to rue de la Juiverie, the Halle aux Blés de Beauce, where he set up his printing-press and his bookstall. He retained his shop on rue Saint-Jacques for some time.[515] It was in his house on rue de la Juiverie that he died, in 1533.

V

M. Francis Wey, in a report made by him to the Philological section of the Committee on the Language, History, and Arts of France, on June 9, 1856, and published in the 9th fascicle of volume three of that Committee's 'Bulletin' (page 437), seems to attribute to Jean Salomon, otherwise called Montflory, or Florimond, the first philological dissertation in which there is any mention of the accent, the apostrophe and the cedilla,—signs peculiar to the French language, which, as every one knows, was for many years content with the alphabet of the Latin tongue, from which it descended; more than that, he attributes to that author the first use of these signs in a printed book. In both respects the honour is due to Geofroy Tory. In truth, in his 'Champ fleury,'—which was not published until 1529, it is true, although begun in 1523, the license to print being dated September 5, 1526,—Tory proposed to introduce the accent, the apostrophe, and the cedilla into the French language; he did more than that; for, having become a printer, he was the first to introduce those signs into typography. They appeared for the first time in the last of the four editions of the 'Adolescence Clementine' (by Clement Marot), all four of which he published. This fourth edition appeared June 7, 1533, accompanied by an 'avis' in these words: 'With certain accents noted, to wit, on the é masculine, different from the feminine,[516] on letters joined by synalephe, and under the c when it is pronounced like s, the which for lack of counsel has never been done in the French language, albeit it was and is most essential.' This was the first work in which Tory applied his orthographic system, as may be seen by the inexperience of the compositors in his employ, who made several errors of omission and transposition in this very notice.

This so necessary reform spread very rapidly, thanks to the fact that the necessity had already made itself felt, as is proved by the work of Jean Salomon, published in that same year 1533. But it is Tory's especial glory that only those changes which were proposed by him were retained, save a few orthographic signs which have no other purpose than to distinguish words spelled alike but of different meanings—and these signs were introduced later: a, à; ou, où; du, dû, etc.

With however good a will one might seek to deny Tory's precedence in the use of orthographic signs in the French tongue, and to award it to Jean Salomon, who used them in the same year, there are two facts that decide the question in favour of the former: these are, the publication in April, 1529, of his 'Champ fleury' (the first book of which is entitled, 'An exhortation to fix and ordain the French language by certain rules for speaking with elegance in good sound French words'), and the formulation of the 'General rules of orthography of the French language,' no copy of which is known to exist, it is true, but for which Tory obtained a license to print on September 28, 1529, four years before Salomon's work appeared.

Nor must we lose sight of the fact that Tory was from Bourges, that is to say, from the same province as Jacques Thiboust, Seigneur de Quantilly, 'friend of books, and distinguished penman,' who was Jean Salomon's Mæcenas. There is nothing improbable in the supposition that Thiboust had had his interest aroused by Tory, who is likely to have been a crony of Thiboust in Paris by a two-fold claim,—as a Berrichon and as a 'friend of books.' It seems to me that the alias 'Montflory' assumed by Salomon is an allusion to 'Champ fleury.' That, in my opinion, is why he wrote it 'Montflory' or 'Florimond,' indifferently, the word being an anagram rather than a real surname.

As the opportunity offers itself, I will add to M. Francis Wey's notes a few remarks which may some day assist in writing the biography of Jean Salomon, of whom nothing is known except the fact, told us by himself, that he was an Angevin.

We know now of three different editions of his work. The first, dated 1533, with no indication of the month, was printed in that year in three pages and a half, octavo, under this title: 'Briefve doctrine pour deuement escripre selon la propriete du langaige francoys.' We do not know where or by whom it was published, but it certainly was printed at Paris, where Salomon undoubtedly lived, and probably by Antoine Augereau, as was the one next described, which seems to have been modelled upon it. Indeed, like it, it is generally found between the same covers with an edition of the 'Miroir de l'âme pécheresse' (of Marguerite of Navarre),—an edition without date, name of place or of printer, which, therefore, should also be attributed to Antoine Augereau and to the year 1533. This edition, which M. Brunet does not mention,[517] has on the first page: 'Le Miroir de lame pecheresse, auquel elle recongnoit ses fautes et pechez, aussi les graces et benefices a elle faictz par Jesuchrist son espoux.' It consists of nine half sheets in octavo, printed as four (signatures a to i). On the last leaf is a note to the reader wherein forgiveness is asked for the first corrector (he who is called to-day 'the corrector of first proofs'), who has inadvertently omitted three verses. 'Divers other trivial errors may peradventure be found before or after, but they must needs be charged rather to the variety of the copies than to the negligence of the correctors or to the haste of the printers.'—As I have said, it is at the end of this pamphlet that we find printed, with separate signatures of its own, from a to d, the little book described by M. Wey after the copy in the Bibliothèque Nationale which contains the 'Briefve doctrine.' But one essential point, which M. Wey has forgotten to mention, is that in the first edition not a word is said of the accent or the cedilla; there is no mention of anything except the apostrophe.

The second edition, printed at Paris by Antoine Augereau, in December, 1533, at the back of another edition of the 'Miroir de l'âme pécheresse' (called 'Miroir de tres chrestienne princesse Marguerite, reine de Navare'), is two-thirds larger. It was probably published (like the preceding one) by the Queen of Navarre's secretary, Jean Thiboust, after a manuscript which the author had dedicated to him as his Mæcenas. Indeed, we find at the head of this reprint the words 'ex manuscriptis authoris,' which seems to indicate further that the author was dead. A point worth noting is that the 'Briefve doctrine' again forms a part of an appendix distinguished by separate signature letters (and folios) from Marguerite's poem, and bearing the same title as in the earlier print, despite the additions that had been made to it (presumably based upon Tory's publications), especially with respect to the cedilla and the accent, which, moreover, are used throughout the volume.

The third is the one which is still in manuscript at Bourges. It contains several passages more than the preceding; but these passages, which are of very debateable merit (as M. Wey, who reproduces them in his report, declares), were probably added by one Jean Milon, of Arlenc in Auvergne, calling himself a retainer ('serviteur') of Thiboust, who revised the 'Briefve doctrine' about 1542; so much at least we may infer from the date of some other pieces in the collection containing it, which was presented, in 1555, by Jacques Thiboust to the Collège de Bourges, whence it found its way to the public library of the same city. It is exceedingly interesting to find this document in Geofroy Tory's native place. It is as if chance had chosen thereby to remind us of the source of the orthographic reform proposed by Jean Salomon.

To be entirely fair, we ought to say that certain other writers had even anticipated Salomon. Thus Jacobus Silvius, otherwise called Jacques Dubois, had published through Robert Estienne, on the 7th of the Ides of January, 1531 (January 7, 1532, n. s.), a French grammar in Latin, wherein he suggested a complete system of orthographic reform, including the acute accent, the apostrophe, the cedilla, etc.; but his plan was so complicated that it could not be followed in its entirety. Moreover, the signs proposed by him were, for the most part, impossible of adoption throughout a book. For instance, the cedilla consisted of an s placed about the c. The merit of Tory's system, over and above its priority, was its simplicity. So we may say that it was generally adopted after 1533.

VI

TRANSLATION OF THE LETTERS PATENT OF FRANÇOIS I, APPOINTING CONRAD NÉOBAR KING'S PRINTER FOR GREEK.[518]

January 17, 1539 [new style].

François, by the grace of God King of the French, to the French nation, greeting.[519]

We desire that it be known to one and all that our dearest wish is, and has ever been, to accord to letters our support and especial favour, and to do our utmost endeavours to supply the young with useful studies. We are persuaded that such useful studies will produce in our realm theologians who will teach the blessed doctrines of religion; magistrates who will execute the laws, not with passion, but in a spirit of public equity; and skilful administrators, the glory of the State, who will not hesitate to sacrifice their private interests to love of the public weal.

Such are in effect the advantages which we are justified in anticipating from worthy studies almost alone. And that is why we did, not long since, make liberal allotments of stipends to distinguished scholars that they might teach the young the languages and sciences, and train them in the no less valuable practice of good morals. But we have considered that there was still lacking, in order to hasten the onward march of literature, something no less essential than public instruction, namely, that a capable person should be specially entrusted with the matter of printing in Greek, under our auspices and with due encouragement from us, in order to the correct printing of Greek authors for the use of the young people of our realm.

In truth men distinguished in letters have represented to us that the arts, history, morality, philosophy, and almost all other branches of knowledge, flow from the Greek authors as streams flow from their sources. We know likewise that, Greek being more difficult to print than French and Latin, it is indispensable for the successful administration of a printing establishment of this sort, that the director thereof should be well versed in the Greek tongue, extremely painstaking, and blessed with abundant means; that it may be that there is not a single person among the printers of our realm who combines all these qualifications (that is to say, knowledge of the Greek language, painstaking energy and large wealth), but that in one the fortune is lacking, in another the necessary knowledge, and in others still different conditions. For those men who possess at once wealth and learning prefer to pursue any other occupation rather than turn their hands to typography, which demands a most toilsome life.

Accordingly we instructed several scholars whom we admit to our table or to our intimacy, to point out to us a man overflowing with zeal for the art of typography, and of proved learning and diligence, who, supported by our generosity, should be employed to print Greek books.

And we have a two-fold motive in thus serving the cause of study. Firstly, as we hold this realm from the All-powerful God, which realm is abundantly supplied with wealth and with all the conveniences of life, we choose that it shall yield to no other in respect to the profundity of its studies, the favour accorded to men of letters, and the variety and extent of the instruction provided; secondly, in order that the studious youth, knowing our good-will toward them, and the honour which it is our delight to bestow upon learning, may give themselves with the greater ardour to the study of letters and of the sciences, and that men of worth, incited by our example, may redouble their zeal and efforts to train our youth to goodly and useful studies.

And even as we sought the person to whom we could with all confidence entrust this function, Conrad Néobar presented himself most opportunely, being most desirous to obtain some public employment which should place him under our protection, and confer upon him personal benefits proportioned to the importance of his service; and, acting upon the testimony that has been laid before us of his learning and his skill, by men of letters well known to us, it has pleased us to entrust to him the matter of Greek typography, to the end that he may print correctly in our kingdom, supported by our munificence, those Greek manuscripts which are the source of all learning.

But, desiring to provide at the same time for the public service, and in order to forestall any possible fraud to the prejudice of Néobar our printer, we establish him in his said office upon the following rules and conditions:—

Firstly, we understand that all works not yet printed shall not be put to press, still less published, before they have been submitted to the judgement of our professors of the Académie of Paris who are charged with the instruction of the young; so that the examination of works in profane literature shall be entrusted to the professors of belles-lettres, and of those on religious subjects to the professors of theology. By this means the purity of our most sacred religion will be preserved from superstition and heresy, and integrity of morals be removed beyond the reach of the debasement and contagion of vice.

Secondly, Conrad Néobar will deposit in our library a copy of all editions of Greek texts which he shall first put forth, to the end that, in the event of some occurrence calamitous to letters, posterity will have this source to draw upon to repair the loss of books.

Thirdly, all such books as Néobar may print shall contain an express statement that he is our printer for the Greek, and that he is specially entrusted with Greek printing under our auspices; to the end that not the present age alone, but all posterity, may learn of the zeal and good-will for letters whereby we are moved, and that, inspired by our example, it may, like ourselves, prove itself disposed to strengthen the cause of study and contribute to its progress.

Furthermore, inasmuch as this office is of more benefit to the State than any other, and as it demands from the man who desires to perform its duties zealously such assiduous care and attention that he can not have a single moment to devote to labours which might lead him to honours or to wealth, we have chosen to provide in three ways for the interest and support of our printer Néobar.

Firstly, we award him an annual stipend of one hundred gold crowns, called 'écus au soleil,' by way of encouragement and to indemnify him in part for his expenses. It is our will, further, that he be exempt from all imposts and that he enjoy the other privileges which we and our predecessors have accorded the clergy and the Académie of Paris, so that he may enjoy the greater advantage from the disposal of his books and that he may the more easily acquire all that is essential for a printing establishment. Finally, we forbid everybody, printers and booksellers alike, to print or to sell, in our realm, for the term of five years, such books in foreign tongues, whether Latin or Greek, as Conrad Néobar shall have published first, and for the term of two years such books as he shall have reprinted more correctly, from ancient manuscripts, whether by his own labours or by availing himself of the work of other scholars.

Whoever violates the terms hereof shall be punishable with a fine for the use of the treasury, and shall reimburse our printer all the cost of his editions. Furthermore, we command the provost of our city of Paris, or his lieutenant, as well as all other magistrates now in office, or who hold public employments from us, to see to it that Conrad Néobar, our printer, enjoys to the full all the privileges and immunities hereby conferred upon him, and to inflict severe punishment upon whoever shall cause him annoyance or hindrance in the performance of his duties: for it is our will that he be protected from the evil-disposed and from the malice of the envious, to the end that the tranquillity and security of an unharrassed life may enable him to devote himself with the greater zeal to his important duties.

And that full and entire credence may be forever given to what is hereinbefore commanded, we have confirmed it with our signature and have caused our seal to be affixed. Adieu.

Given at Paris, the seventeenth day of January, in the year of grace 1538, and of our reign the twenty-fifth.

VII

EXTRACT FROM THE LETTERS PATENT OF FRANÇOIS I, APPOINTING DENIS JANOT KING'S PRINTER.[520]

François, by the grace of God King of France, to all those who shall see these letters, greeting. Be it known that we, having been well and duly advised of the great skill and experience which our dear and well-beloved Denis Janot has acquired in the art of printing and in the matters which depend thereon, whereof he has ordinarily made great profession, and even in the French language; and considering that we have already engaged and constituted two printers of our own, one for the Latin, the other for the Greek language; desiring to do no less honour to our own than to the said two other languages, and to commit the printing thereof to some person who is able to acquit himself thereof, as we hope that the said Janot will prove himself well able to do, for these causes and others moving us thereto, we have engaged and do by these presents engage him to be our printer in the said French language, henceforward to print well and duly, in good type and as correctly as may be, such books as are and shall be written in said language, and such as he may be able to recover; and to enjoy in that office the honours, authority, privileges, precedencies, powers, liberties, and rights which may appertain thereto, so long as it shall be our good pleasure. And in order to arouse in him the greater ardour and to afford him better means and opportunity to maintain and support the cost and outlays, the toil and labour which it will be incumbent on him to make and undergo, as well in the printing and correcting as in other matters depending thereon, we have decreed and ordered, do decree and order, and it is our pleasure that the said Janot be given permission, by these presents, to print all books composed in the said French language which he may be able to recover, but only after they shall have been well, duly, and sufficiently inspected and examined, and found to be excellent and not scandalous.... Given at Paris the twelfth day of April in the year of grace one thousand five hundred forty-three, and of our reign the twenty-ninth.

On the outside are the words: 'By the King—Present, the Bishop of Thulles. Signed BAYARD; and sealed sur double cueue[521] with that lord's great seal.'

VIII

GEOFROY TORY, 1530-1533.[522]

OLIVIER MALLARD, 1536-1542.

DENIS JANOT, 1543-1550.[523]

CHARLES ESTIENNE, 1551-1561.

ROBERT ESTIENNE II (nephew of CHARLES), 1561-1570.

JEAN METTAYER, 1575-1586.

JAMET METTAYER (brother of JEAN), 1586-1602.

PIERRE METTAYER (brother of JEAN and JAMET), 1602-1639.

MAMERT PATISSON, 1578-1601. His widow succeeded him and held the office from 1602 to 1606.

MICHEL DE VASCOSAN, 1560-1571.

PIERRE LE VOIRRIER, 1583.[524]

FEDERIC MOREL (VASCOSAN'S son-in-law), 1560-1581.

FEDERIC MOREL II (son of FEDERIC), 1582-1630.[525]

CLAUDE MOREL, 1617 (?).

CHARLES MOREL (son of CLAUDE), 1635-1639.

GILLES MOREL (son of CHARLES), 1639-1647.

PIERRE LE PETIT. Succeeded MOREL, June, 1647 'with the privileges and salary of 225 livres charged upon the State.'[526] He died in 1686.

GUILLAUME NYVERD II, 1561.

NICOLAS NIVELLE,	}
GUILLAUME CHAUDIÈRE,			Printers of the Sacred Union, 1589-1594.
ROLIN THIERRY,

CLAUDE PREVOST, 1614-1629.

NICOLAS CALLEMONT, 1622-1631. His widow held the office in 1631.

PIERRE L'HUILLIER, 1610.

ANTOINE ESTIENNE, 1614-1664. In 1649 he called himself 'first king's printer.'[527]

HENRI ESTIENNE, his son, obtained the reversion of his father's office in 1652, but he died before him, in 1661, probably without acting.[528]

PIERRE MOREAU, 1640-1647. (For his bastard italic.)

ANTOINE VITRÉ, 1622-1674. 'Linguarum orientalium typographus regius.'

SÉBASTIEN CHAPELET, 1639.

JACQUES DE GAST, 1640.

SÉBASTIEN CRAMOISY, December 24, 1633. In 1640 he was appointed manager of the royal printing-office of the Louvre; in 1651 he resigned the office of king's printer in favour of his grandson, Sébastien Mâbre-Cramoisy, and died in 1669.

SÉBASTIEN MÂBRE-CRAMOISY (grandson of the preceding, through his mother), 1661-1687. He also held the office of manager of the royal printing-office.

SÉBASTIEN HURÉ, August, 1650.

SÉBASTIEN HURÉ II (son of the preceding), appointed in 1662, in place of HENRI ESTIENNE, Antoine's son; died in 1678.

PIERRE ROCOLET, April 14, 1635; died in 1662.

DAMIEN FOUCAULD (son-in-law of ROCOLET), succeeded him; 1662-1687(?).

FRANÇOIS MUGUET, appointed as locum tenens in November, 1661, was definitively appointed in 1671; resigned his letters in 1686, to replace PIERRE LE PETIT, at the salary of 225 livres. Muguet died in 1702.

FRANÇOIS-HUBERT MUGUET (son of the preceding) succeeded him; 1702-1742.

FRÉDÉRIC LÉONARD. Succeeded FRANÇOIS HURÉ; 1678-1712.

FRÉDÉRIC LÉONARD II (son of the preceding) succeeded him; 1713-1714.

JEAN DE LA CAILLE, 1644-1673.

JEAN-BAPTISTE COGNARD. Succeeded FOUCAULD; 1687-1737.

COGNARD'S widow, 1737-1760.

JEAN-BAPTISTE COGNARD II (son of Jean-Baptiste), 1717-1752, when he resigned.

JACQUES LANGLOIS, 1660-1678.

JACQUES LANGLOIS II (son of the preceding), 1678-1697.

JEAN-BAPTISTE-ALEXANDRE DELESPINE, 1702-1746(?).

GUILLAUME DESPREZ, 1686-1708.

GUILLAUME DESPREZ II (son of the preceding), 1740-1743, when he resigned.

GUILLAUME-NICOLAS DESPREZ (son of the preceding), 1743-1788. He was at the end the dean of the king's printers.

PIERRE-ALEXANDRE LE PRIEUR, 1747-1785.

CLAUDE-CHARLES THIBOUST, appointed king's printer in 1756, died in 1757.

N. DE MAISONROUGE (widow of the preceding), succeeded him, and held the title of king's printer till 1788.

LAURENT-FRANÇOIS PRAULT, 1780(?).

LOUIS-FRANÇOIS PRAULT (son of LAURENT) succeeded him; 1780-1788.

ANTOINE BOUDET, 1768-1779.

FRANÇOIS LE BRETON; died October 4, 1779.

PHILIPPE-DENIS PIERRES; succeeded LE BRETON by virtue of letters dated October 7, 1779.[529] He was appointed first king's printer in August, 1785.

JACQUES-GABRIEL CLOUSIER, 1788.

AUGUSTE-MARTIN LOTTIN, 1775-1789.

(Demoiselle) HÉRISSANT, 1788.

King's Printers for Greek.[530]

CONRAD NÉOBAR, 1538-1540.

ROBERT ESTIENNE, 1540-1550.

ADRIEN TURNÈBE, 1552-1555.

GUILLAUME MOREL, 1555-1564.

MICHEL DE VASCOSAN, 1560-1576.

ROBERT ESTIENNE II, 1561-1570.

FEDERIC MOREL, 1571-1581.

ÉTIENNE PREVOSTEAU, 1581-1600(?).

PIERRE PAUTONNIER, 1600-1605(?).

Printers of the King's Closet.

JACQUES COLLOMBAT, in 1743.

N. DEHANSY (widow of the preceding), 1744.

JACQUES-FRANÇOIS COLLOMBAT (son of JACQUES), 1744-1751.

JACQUELINE TARLÉ (wife of JACQUES-FRANÇOIS), 1751-1752.

JEAN-JACQUES ESTIENNE COLLOMBAT (their son, 1752-1763).