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Decree on Engravings, Paris (1660)
Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France : Mss. Fr. 22119 n°21
Citation:
Decree on Engravings, Paris (1660), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
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3 translated pages
Chapter 1 Page 1
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DECREE
OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE.
THAT UPHOLDS AND KEEPS THE ART
of Printmaking, by engraving and by
etching, and by any other means possible,
and those who make it their profession, both Natives (Regnicoles)
and Foreigners, in the state of freedom that they have always
enjoyed and exercised in the Kingdom, without it being possible
for them to be curtailed in it by Guild, Incorporation,
nor any other Rule or Control, in the
name of whomsoever.
Of the 26. May 1660.
EXTRACT FROM THE REGISTERS
of the Council of State.
THE KING having had set before him at his Council
the Decree it made on the seventh of February
last, by which His Majesty had returned the Petition
which had been presented to him by the Sieur de Lavenage,
for the establishment and constitution of two hundred Master
Printmakers, engravers and etchers, Prin-
Chapter 1 Page 2
ters and Print-sellers in a Trade Corporation
of the City, Provostship and Viscountcy of Paris, in the manner
of the other trades, and granting him the Profit that
might accrue from it, to the Lieutenant Civil and His
Majesty's Procureur at the Chastelet, in order that, having heard the said
Printmakers and Sellers, having been advised by them as to the con-
venience or inconvenience of the said establishment, and given the said advice,
reason gives orders as follows. HIS MAJESTY having
since been informed of the evil consequences to which
the implementation of this Decree and advice could give rise
for the glory of France, whose asset it is to cultivate the liberal
Arts as much as possible, including that of printmaking,
engraving and etching, which depend on
the imagination of its authors, and cannot be subject to any
other laws than those of genius; that this art bears no
comparison with other trades and manufactures; that none
of its works being among the number of necessities
that maintain the subsistence of civil society, [being]
of those only which serve to decorate, to please and to
entertain, the sale of which depends, consequently, on chance
and desire, it should be entirely free; That to reduce it
to a Guild would be to subjugate the nobility of this Art
at the discretion of a few private Individuals who know
it not, the exercise of which could not be made regular
and predictable because the manner of each Author of
a Print is different to that of every other, diversity being
there as great and many as there can be intentions:
finally, that as often as one of his Subjects,
motivated by personal interest, have previously
given comparable advice to His Majesty or to his
Predecessors, either on the feasibility of a Guild
or for the Control of Production, or on other
pretexts, His Majesty and his Predecessors have always
rejected them, and the Judges have dismissed them as contrary
to the glory that a flourishing Kingdom acquires by the good
treatment it extends to the liberal Arts: and because, instead of
opening the door to Foreigners, whose genius and courage
is elevated above the ordinary, it bars their entry,
by threatening them with constraints that are not
to be found among the less regulated Nations
Chapter 1 Page 3
and, additionally, it banishes the Arts instead of attracting them
by a favourable reception: HIS MAJESTY, wanting to increase
the courage of those who dedicate themselves to this Art, and by
the marks of his esteem and Justice, to invite his other
Subjects to imitate them, even Foreigners to accustom themselves
to his Kingdom. HIS MAJESTY, being in his Council,
not taking into account the Petition presented to him, nor
the Decree of his Private Council of the seventh February last,
nor everything that could have followed from it, has upheld and
kept, [and] upholds and keeps, the Art of Printmaking, by
engraving and etching and all other techniques such
as they are, and those who make it their profession, both Natives
(Regnicoles) and Foreigners, in the state of freedom they have always had
in the exercise of it throughout the Kingdom, without it being possible
for them to be curtailed in it by Guild membership or Incorporation, nor subjected
to other Rules or Controls, in the name of whomsoever, leaving
things in this Profession as they have been up until the present.
His Majesty forbids the said Lavenage and all others,
to make use of the said Petition and Decree and
of everything that could follow from it; and the said Lieu-
tenant Civil and the King's Procureur at the Chastelet from
taking any notice of it, nor to suffer any interference
in the exercise of the said Art, on pain of annulment, cancellation
and a fine of three thousand livres plus costs,
damages and interest. PASSED, His Majesty being present,
at the King's Council of State held at saint Jean-du-Luz, the twenty sixth
of May sixteen hundred and sixty.
Signed, DE LOMENIE
Translation by: Katie Scott
Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France : Mss. Fr. 22119 n°21
Citation:
Decree on Engravings, Paris (1660), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
Back | Record | Images | No Commentaries
Translation only | Transcription only | Show all | Bundled images as pdf
3 translated pages
Chapter 1 Page 1
**************
**************
DECREE
OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE.
THAT UPHOLDS AND KEEPS THE ART
of Printmaking, by engraving and by
etching, and by any other means possible,
and those who make it their profession, both Natives (Regnicoles)
and Foreigners, in the state of freedom that they have always
enjoyed and exercised in the Kingdom, without it being possible
for them to be curtailed in it by Guild, Incorporation,
nor any other Rule or Control, in the
name of whomsoever.
EXTRACT FROM THE REGISTERS
of the Council of State.
THE KING having had set before him at his Council
the Decree it made on the seventh of February
last, by which His Majesty had returned the Petition
which had been presented to him by the Sieur de Lavenage,
for the establishment and constitution of two hundred Master
Printmakers, engravers and etchers, Prin-
Chapter 1 Page 2
ters and Print-sellers in a Trade Corporation
of the City, Provostship and Viscountcy of Paris, in the manner
of the other trades, and granting him the Profit that
might accrue from it, to the Lieutenant Civil and His
Majesty's Procureur at the Chastelet, in order that, having heard the said
Printmakers and Sellers, having been advised by them as to the con-
venience or inconvenience of the said establishment, and given the said advice,
reason gives orders as follows. HIS MAJESTY having
since been informed of the evil consequences to which
the implementation of this Decree and advice could give rise
for the glory of France, whose asset it is to cultivate the liberal
Arts as much as possible, including that of printmaking,
engraving and etching, which depend on
the imagination of its authors, and cannot be subject to any
other laws than those of genius; that this art bears no
comparison with other trades and manufactures; that none
of its works being among the number of necessities
that maintain the subsistence of civil society, [being]
of those only which serve to decorate, to please and to
entertain, the sale of which depends, consequently, on chance
and desire, it should be entirely free; That to reduce it
to a Guild would be to subjugate the nobility of this Art
at the discretion of a few private Individuals who know
it not, the exercise of which could not be made regular
and predictable because the manner of each Author of
a Print is different to that of every other, diversity being
there as great and many as there can be intentions:
finally, that as often as one of his Subjects,
motivated by personal interest, have previously
given comparable advice to His Majesty or to his
Predecessors, either on the feasibility of a Guild
or for the Control of Production, or on other
pretexts, His Majesty and his Predecessors have always
rejected them, and the Judges have dismissed them as contrary
to the glory that a flourishing Kingdom acquires by the good
treatment it extends to the liberal Arts: and because, instead of
opening the door to Foreigners, whose genius and courage
is elevated above the ordinary, it bars their entry,
by threatening them with constraints that are not
to be found among the less regulated Nations
Chapter 1 Page 3
and, additionally, it banishes the Arts instead of attracting them
by a favourable reception: HIS MAJESTY, wanting to increase
the courage of those who dedicate themselves to this Art, and by
the marks of his esteem and Justice, to invite his other
Subjects to imitate them, even Foreigners to accustom themselves
to his Kingdom. HIS MAJESTY, being in his Council,
not taking into account the Petition presented to him, nor
the Decree of his Private Council of the seventh February last,
nor everything that could have followed from it, has upheld and
kept, [and] upholds and keeps, the Art of Printmaking, by
engraving and etching and all other techniques such
as they are, and those who make it their profession, both Natives
(Regnicoles) and Foreigners, in the state of freedom they have always had
in the exercise of it throughout the Kingdom, without it being possible
for them to be curtailed in it by Guild membership or Incorporation, nor subjected
to other Rules or Controls, in the name of whomsoever, leaving
things in this Profession as they have been up until the present.
His Majesty forbids the said Lavenage and all others,
to make use of the said Petition and Decree and
of everything that could follow from it; and the said Lieu-
tenant Civil and the King's Procureur at the Chastelet from
taking any notice of it, nor to suffer any interference
in the exercise of the said Art, on pain of annulment, cancellation
and a fine of three thousand livres plus costs,
damages and interest. PASSED, His Majesty being present,
at the King's Council of State held at saint Jean-du-Luz, the twenty sixth
of May sixteen hundred and sixty.
Signed, DE LOMENIE
Translation by: Katie Scott