A Brief History of Printing. Part II: The Economic History of Printing

by Frederick W. Hamilton

5. Revision of his work by the superintendent of the press.

6. Revision of his proofs by the public proof reader.

7. Collation of the original text with the printed text by the representative of the University.

8. A certificate by the Librarian of Saint Marks that a copy of the book had been deposited in the Library.

9. Examination by government experts to fix the price.

Almost every one of these processes had to be paid for. Italy outside Venice was strongly influenced by Rome and the press was comparatively strictly controlled by the influence of the church.

In Germany, on the contrary, the censorship was probably the least severe of any on the Continent. As already noted, there was substantially no printing of original work in Germany until 1500 and consequently no special need of censorship. Shortly afterward Germany was rent in twain by religious dissensions. It must be remembered that the Reformation, being very largely a political movement, the difference between Catholics and Protestants followed geographical lines for the most part. There were comparatively few Protestants in Catholic countries or Catholics in Protestant countries. The Protestants seized upon the printing press as a method of propaganda. They consequently advocated its freedom and encouraged its use. The Catholics at first attempted to defend themselves from this attack by the suppression of printing and the destruction of imported books. After a little time, however, with greater wisdom, they themselves made use of the printing press for a counter propaganda. Those who were disturbed by the censorship in a country in either camp could and did move to one in the other. In this way unless a man had religious opinions which were unacceptable anywhere or wished to publish books which were seditious or immoral it would be entirely easy for him to find a place where he could be undisturbed and probably encouraged.

The early assertion of government control in France has already been described. Francis I, although a good friend of printing, was a loyal son of the church, and all the more so because of his unfriendly relations with Henry VIII of England who, for much of his life, was not on good terms with the church. Francis, therefore, issued edicts in 1521 enforcing the censorship which was called for by the decree of the Lateran Council already referred to.

This censorship was exercised by a considerable number of persons. This was always a defect in the French press laws and was the cause of a great deal of difficulty and hardship. At first censorship was exercised by the bishops, by the Faculty of Theology of the University of Paris, by the Parliament of Paris, by the Royal Chancellor, by the Director-General of the Book Trade, and by the Lieutenant of Police. Tendencies to consolidation, however, soon manifested themselves. The first important step was the centering of church censorship in the hands of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Paris to the exclusion of the bishops generally.

The tendency to centralize was naturally accompanied by a tendency to tighten the censorship of the civil authorities, a tendency quite opposite to that which we observed in Venice. In 1624 a Censor-Royal was appointed to whom everybody, even the bishops themselves, was obliged to submit his writing. The numerous civil authorities having charge of censorship caused confusion for a time, but gradually their powers were concentrated in the hands of the Director-General of the Book Trade.