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6 translated pages

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Chapter 1 Page 1

LETTERS
PATENT
AND RULING OF THE
KING'S COUNCIL OF STATE,

concerning the regulation of Bookselling.



Made at Fontainebleau, 2 October 1701.

Registered at the Parlement, 7 January 1702.


[French royal coat-of-arms]


[Published] in Paris,
by François Muguet, First Printer of the King,
and of his Parlement, Rue de la Harpe,
aux trois Rois
____________________
1702

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LETTERS PATENT
AND RULING OF THE
KING'S COUNCIL OF STATE,

concerning the regulation of Bookselling.

      From Louis by the grace of God King of
France and of Navarre, to all who shall see
the present Letters, hail. The abuses perpe-
trated in recent years by Booksellers, Print-
ers and other Individuals, in the printing
and reprinting of Books having obliged Us to
seek the means of re-establishing order and
discipline therein, We have by a ruling of our
Council made this last 7 September given the
orders that We would have observed in future
in these matters, which have always seemed to
Us sufficiently important to the Public to
merit our particular attention; And this
because it is absolutely essential that this
Ruling be put into execution in all its pro-
visions, and that none of those who have
hitherto exempted themselves from previous
Rulings, or have

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interpreted them spuriously for their own
improper advantage, should be able to claim
ignorance of our intentions. FOR THESE
REASONS, in accordance with the aforementioned
Ruling here attached and counter-sealed by our
Exchequer, We have stated and declared and do
state and declare by these Present, signed by
our hand, our will and desire:

FIRSTLY
      That no Bookseller, Printer or other person
may cause to be printed or reprinted anywhere in
the Kingdom any Book, without having previously
obtained permission to do so in Letters bearing
the great Seal.

II.
      That no Bookseller, Printer or other person
may cause to be printed or reprinted anywhere in
the Kingdom any Pamphlet, without having obtained
permission to do so from the local Magistrates and
the Police, and without the Approval of qualified
people appointed by the aforementioned Magistrates
for the examination of such Pamphlets, and the ex-
clusion from this designation of Works whose print-
ing would exceed the amount of two printed folio
pages with font size 'cicero'.*

III.
      That where the Permissions conferred by such
Letters bearing the great Seal contain a general
privilege, or an injunction to all except the Holder
forbidding the printing or reprinting anywhere in
the Kingdom of the Works he offers, these Letters
shall be paid for at the

________________

*) i.e. 12 points: Cicero's works were first printed
in Italy, in 1467, using this font size.

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customary price determined by the Tariffs of
the rights of the Seal, by virtue of which
Letters he may enter into association, with a
view to the printing and sale of his Works,
with any Printer of Bookseller residing in
the Kingdom that he pleases, notwithstanding
previous provisions to the contrary, which in
this respect are hereby arrogated.

IV.
      That where such Letters confer only a local
Privilege, or permission to print or reprint
Works only in the holder's area of residence,
only the third of these sums need be paid.

V.
      That where such Letters confer no Privileges
or injunctions to those other than the Holder
concerning the printing or reprinting of these
Works, the sum paid for the Letters shall be only
five livres, to cover general fees including the
cost of paper and copying.

VI.
      That no Books or Pamphlets may be printed
without the insertion at the beginning or end of
all copies, both the Permissions by virtue of
which they are printed or reprinted, and the
Judgment of those who have read and approved
them before such Permissions were granted.

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VII.
      That where the Works for whose
printing permission is sought are comprised
of several Numbers, Parts, or Volumes, of
which only the earlier ones are complete at
the time the Permission is granted, no Book-
seller, Printer or other person shall print
or cause to be printed by virtue of these
Permissions any Parts of the Works, until
the Parts that were unexamined at the time
the Permission was obtained have been sub-
mitted for examination, this to include
Prefaces, Notices, dedicatory Inscriptions,
Supplements, Tables and so on, and that all
printed Copies shall be identical in all
respects to the Copies seen by the Examiners.

VIII.
      That all the above Articles shall be
diligently executed, on pain of the lapse of
all rights granted to infringers by Per-
missions, and of proceedings including confis-
cation of Copies, fines, closures of shops,
and other more severe penalties should these
be necessary. SO WE ORDER our dear and faithful
Councillors, those who run our Parliamentary
Court in Paris, that they should have the
Present read, published and recorded, and see
that their contents be executed in letter and
spirit, and that they are not infringed in any
way, on pain of the given penalties, notwith-
standing any contradictory Proclamations,
Rulings, or Regulations,

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which are superseded by the Present;
FOR such is our pleasure; As witness to
which We have affixed out Seal to the
Present. MADE at Fontainebleau this 2
October in the year of Our Lord seventeen-
hundred and one, fifty-ninth of our reign.
SIGNED: Louis; And below: For the King,
PHELYPEAU. And stamped with the great Seal
in yellow wax.

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Translation by: Andrew Counter (pp. 1-6)