Books and their makers during the Middle Ages

by George Haven Putnam

Bologna had become the most important school in Europe for the study of Roman and Canonical law, and it was in Bologna that the undertakings of the university bookseller first became important. The booksellers were not only subject to the supervision of the university, but were also brought under the regulations of the town, and the town authorities undertook to prescribe prices as well for the renting as for the selling of the manuscripts, and also to prescribe penalties for the renting or selling of incorrect or incomplete texts.

The university regulations specified that there must be on the part of the booksellers no modification of the text under which new readings or glosses should be inserted to replace those accepted as authoritative, and a penalty was attached to the selling or renting of the texts in any other form than that in which they were prescribed by the instructors of the Faculty to which the study belonged. In 1289, the penalty for the contravention of this regulation, previously fixed at ten lire, was raised to one hundred lire.[265]

A few years later, a university regulation specified that the stationarii peciarum who undertook to rent out the authoritative texts, must keep in stock sufficient supplies of 117 specified works. In the year 1300, there were in the university six official stationarii, of whom three were Italians and three, foreigners. They had to be appointed each year, but it seems probable that when their work proved satisfactory they were re-appointed from year to year.

The responsibility for the general supervision of the texts and for their correctness and completeness rested with the bidellus generalis. Any reader who should discover blemishes or omissions in the peciæ was under obligation to report the same to the bidellus generalis, and the stationarius who was responsible for the preparation of the defective text was fined five solidos, one half of the fine going to the university chest, one quarter to the bidellus, and one quarter to the informant.

The stationarii were ordered to post up in a conspicuous place in their shops all the regulations having to do with their trade, in order that all buyers could know what they were entitled to receive. They were not at liberty to decline to rent to university members any peciæ on the official list. On the other hand, if they rented out peciæ to students who had been expelled or who were under suspension, they were themselves liable to fine. The usual rental at this time, that is to say, the beginning of the thirteenth century, was four denarii for a quaterne (four sheets) and two denarii for a pecia. The denarius was the equivalent of about ten cents.

The rental for works not on the official list was somewhat higher, as these would not be called for so continuously and as the preparation of supplies of the same must, therefore, be more of a speculation. In renting manuscripts outside of Bologna (which could be done only under special permission of the university authorities and which occurred as a rule only with members of other universities) an additional two denarii for a quaterne could be demanded. Students renting the peciæ were obliged to deposit a pledge of sufficient value to secure the stationarii against loss. Between the regulations applying to the stationarii peciarum, and those controlling the general stationarii, who had authority to sell as well as to rent and whose business lay outside of the university, there were various differences. The general stationarius appeared to have undertaken from time to time the sale of books on commission, which to the university stationarius was forbidden.

One of the earlier university regulations prohibited students from purchasing manuscripts with a view of selling them again for a profit, but this, according to Savigny, fell into disuse in the course of the fourteenth century. As late as 1334, the regulations of Bologna strictly prohibited students from taking with them, on leaving the universities, any books whatsoever, without a special authorisation on the part of the heads of their respective Faculties. Regulations of this kind naturally interfered with the normal development of the book trade in a city so largely dependent upon its university as was Bologna, and formed one cause for the greater activity of the general book trade in cities like Venice, where the regulations of the commune were not supplemented by those of university authorities.

The city statutes of Bologna of 1259, prohibited the stationarii librarii from taking a higher commission on the sale of manuscripts than two and a half per cent. It was also specified that no sale of a work left on commission should be made without the direct knowledge of the owner. The stationarius peciarum belonged at the outset to the membership of the university, and, in accepting the authority of its supervision and its regulations, enjoyed also the university privileges, which included freedom from certain municipal obligations. Many of the university stationarii belonged, as mentioned, to the class of bidelli.

It was forbidden for any member of the university to promise or to engage, either directly or indirectly, to pay to the stationarius a higher commission or compensation than that prescribed in the regulations. The penalty for an infraction of this rule, a penalty imposed upon both the parties concerned, was a fine of five livres. The student was also under obligations to denounce to the rector any attempt on the part of the dealer to secure an additional compensation.[266] The very severity of these prohibitions gives indication of difficulty in securing enforcement of the system.

The statutes of Padua and of the other Italian universities of the manuscript trade, were similar to, and were probably in the main based upon, those of Bologna. In Padua, the earliest regulations which have been preserved bear date as late as 1465, which is one year later than the introduction into Italy of the printing-press. The regulations of 1465 prescribed the size of the peciæ and confirmed the rental prices to the schedule of those of Bologna. The renting of manuscripts could, however, have continued but for a short period after the issue of these regulations. In Padua, as in Bologna, the stationarii peciarum had to make a deposit, in entering upon their business, of four hundred lire. They had also to go through with an examination at the hands of the university authorities, and they then had to take an oath of loyalty to the university. This entitled them to their formal appointment, which needed, however, as stated, to be confirmed from year to year.