Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/396

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NOTES AND QUERIES. tii s. v. APRIL 27, 1912.

PRIVILEGE .AND LICENCE PUBLISH,

TO

<See " With Allowance," ante, pp. 48, 135.)

A PRIVILEGE and licence appears to have conferred or ratified a copyright at various times in England and other countries.

The earliest example which I have found .among my books is one granted by the Emperor Charles V., dated 6 Jan., 1534, to Petrus Apianus, concerning his ' Inscrip- tiones Sacrosanctae Vetustatis,' Ingolstadii, 1534. It gives to the author a copyright tfor fifteen years from the date of publication of the book. The penalty for infringement as the transfer to him of the .pirated copies .and a fine of ten marks of pure gold, half .to go to the Imperial purse, and half to Petrus Apianus or his assigns.

There is a very similar licence in ' Scrip- tores Historise Romanse,' with copperplate engravings, Heidelbergse, 1743-8, granted .by the Emperor Charles VII. to the editor iBenno Casparus Haurisius. The copyright dates from the signing of the licence, 19 Sept., 1743, and is for fifteen years.

In Bayle's ' Historical and Critical Dic- tionary, translated into English,' 1710, is a Royal privilege and licence, granted to Jacob 'Tonson and his assigns, &c., by William III. 'The fourteen years' copyright dates from the licence, 21 April, J.701. It is signed "C. Hedges." There would be only some five years left when the book appeared in the time of Queen Anne. C. Hedges signs a privilege and licence in Laurence Echard's ' History of England,' vol. i., in favour of Jacob Tonson, his heirs, &c., as from Queen Anne, dated 6 Feb., 1705/6. It is for " Two large Volumes in Folio." The term is for fourteen years from the date of the privilege. Vol. i. appeared in 1707, but vols. ii. and iii. did not appear until 1718. As the privilege and licence concerned a " Compleat History," perhaps it covered the third volume.

A Royal privilege and licence was granted by George II. to Thomas Longman, John Shuckburgh, Thomas Osborne, Charles Hitch, and Stephen Austen, their heirs, &c., dated 13 Dec., 1743, for the sole printing, publish- ing, and vending of the 3rd ed. of Thomas Salmon's ' Modern History ; or, The Present State of All Nations,' with cuts and maps by Herman Moll. The licence cites that the petitioners had declared that they could not get their full profit and benefit without ".Our Royal Licence and Protection." .{In addition to the above-named publishers, ' J. Rivington " appears on the title-page.)

The three volumes were published in 1744-5-6 respectively. The licence, with copyright for fourteen years from its date, 13 Dec., 1743, appears in each, with the signature " Carteret."

According to the ' Political Dictionary,' published by Charles Knight & Co., 1845-6, vol. ii. p. 574, s.v. ' Press, Censorship of,' the licensing system was finally abolished in England in 1694. This, I suppose, refers to censorship as to whether a book was morally and politically fit for publication.

In ' Venerabilis Hildeberti. . . .Opera,' &c., Parisiis, 1708, I find " Privilege du Roy " (Louis XIV.), signed " Bulteau," dated 24 Jan., 1706, granted to Antoine Beau- gendre. It gives a copyright of ten years from the date of the privilege. The infrac- tion is punishable by the confiscation of the pirated copies and a fine of 1,500 livres, of which one-third would go to the King, one-third to 1'Hotel-Dieu de Paris, and the other to the petitioner or his assigns, with all costs and damages. After this privilege and the account of its having been registered comes the statement that Antoine Beau- gendre has parted with his rights in the above privilege to Laurent le Conte, Libraire a Paris (the publisher), according to an agreement.

A "Privilege du Roy" may be found in ' Relation d'un Voyage du Levant,' by Pitton de Tournefort, 1727, signed " Fou- quet," dated 12 Dec., 1714, and granted to le Sieur Claude Rigaud, director of the Royal Press of the Louvre. The term of copyright is twelve years from the date of the privilege, and the fine 3,000 livres, to be shared as above. Apparently the copy- right was extinct before the publication of the book. Le Sieur Rigaud conveyed his privilege two days after its date to certain " Libraires de Lyon."

The Roman imprimatur e.g., in 'Museum Odescalchum,' Romse, vol. i., 1751 appears to be only a certificate declaring that the book may be printed, it having been read by the appointed censor or censors, and found to contain nothing against the Catholic faith or good morals, and to be a book of erudition, &c. Vol. i contains one certificate before the " Imprimatur." Vol. ii., pub- lished 1752, contains three.

In the English licences no penalty is stated. In the earliest of the three referred to the copyright is to be enforced by the Master, Wardens, and Company of Sta- tioners. In the other two the enforcement is entrusted to the Stationers as above, and to the Commissioners and other officers of