A false dawn : the incunabula era -- The disappearance of the presses -- The rebirth of printing -- A new business model -- The Breton book world -- Ownership, readership, and authorship -- Printers, booksellers, and Protestantism -- The wars of the league : pamphlets and the transformation of the presses
Summary
Printing in provincial France has not attracted the same interest as the main centres of print. Using archival as well as printed sources, this book provides a groundbreaking new understanding of the development of printing in the provinces. Though printing in Brittany started during the incunabula period, the presses disappeared in the first decade of the sixteenth century. This work analyses the role of booksellers during these critical years and examines the business models that enabled the presses to return to the duchy. It also looks at issues such as ownership of books, Protestantism and
