1677 · “Antwerp
by FORGERY — OFFICIUM B.M.V.
“Antwerp: Plantin press for the widow and heirs of Balthasar Moretus [recte Lyon: Anisson], 1677. 32mo (109 x 78 mm., maximum). [64], 712, [4] pp. Printed in red & black, engraved title vignette of the Virgin, 16 full-page engravings, woodcut initials and a repeated bouquet tail-piece printed mostly in red. extravagantly untrimmed, the margins of the larger leaves more than double the width of the text block Some dust-soiling to outer edges of untrimmed leaves. 19th-century parchment over boards, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Provenance: William O’Brien (1832-1899); bequeathed to the Jesuits at Milltown Park (ex legato bookplate and shelfmark label, the latter covering an earlier label); ms. shelfmark label on spine.***
A fake Plantin imprint, printed by the Anisson family of Lyon.
By the time of the death of Balthasar II Moretus in 1674, nearly the entire output of the Plantin press consisted of liturgical books, printed largely for the powerful Hieronymite order of San Lorenzo of the Escorial, who had a monopoly on the sale of prayer books in Spain, which they distributed in Madrid and Seville. All these books had long been produced by the Plantin press. At around this time, however, the monks’ debts began to go unpaid, thanks to the acute Spanish financial crisis, made worse by an unwise currency devaluation. Negotiations faltered, and the young Balthasar II was sent to Spain to try to straighten matters out.
While there, Balthasar discovered that the monks, annoyed at the slow-down in their creditors’ supply of books, had been ordering “Plantin imprints” from Lyon, where the printer Anisson had been only too happy to comply. “It is obvious from letters and documents about the Madrid negotiations that until 1680 the Moretuses' Spanish trade had been based exclusively, or almost exclusively on agreements which had not been fully binding on both parties for the future, rather than on privileges and formal contracts. As Balthasar wrote home, relations had hitherto been regulated ‘merely by letters without either commitment or contract’. When Balthasar protested to the monks it was not so much because they had ordered books from Lyons, but rather because the Anissons had unlawfully printed the Moretus name on their own products. The Antwerp printer's great fear was that the Hieronymites, either from annoyance or calculation, would seize the opportunity of excluding the Moretuses from the Peninsula and bring in competitors.” (Voet, p. 233)
The monks tried to “persuade” Balthasar to accept a mansion in Madrid in settlement of their debt, by threatening to set up their own printing press there. Bedazzled by the luxurious house, the callow youth would readily have acceded, but his mother Anna Goos, who managed the press from 1674 to 1681, forbade him, correctly judging the monks to be bluffing, and a contract was negotiated.
This explicitly forbade the monks from importing forged Plantin imprints.
Copies of this little book are very often found either untrimmed and in later bindings, or in sheets. Apparently the Moretus firm was left with a large number of unsold sheets, and the remainders continue to circulate.
Cf. Voet, The golden compasses, vol. 1, pp. 230-234; Maurits Sabbe, “Démêlés des Moretus avec les R.P. Jéromites de l'Escurial au XVIIe siècle,” De Gulden Passer, 7 (1929), pp. 119-145; for another copy see Pistner and Storm van Leeuwen, A Matter of Size 40a (also uncut. (Inventory #: 2886e)
A fake Plantin imprint, printed by the Anisson family of Lyon.
By the time of the death of Balthasar II Moretus in 1674, nearly the entire output of the Plantin press consisted of liturgical books, printed largely for the powerful Hieronymite order of San Lorenzo of the Escorial, who had a monopoly on the sale of prayer books in Spain, which they distributed in Madrid and Seville. All these books had long been produced by the Plantin press. At around this time, however, the monks’ debts began to go unpaid, thanks to the acute Spanish financial crisis, made worse by an unwise currency devaluation. Negotiations faltered, and the young Balthasar II was sent to Spain to try to straighten matters out.
While there, Balthasar discovered that the monks, annoyed at the slow-down in their creditors’ supply of books, had been ordering “Plantin imprints” from Lyon, where the printer Anisson had been only too happy to comply. “It is obvious from letters and documents about the Madrid negotiations that until 1680 the Moretuses' Spanish trade had been based exclusively, or almost exclusively on agreements which had not been fully binding on both parties for the future, rather than on privileges and formal contracts. As Balthasar wrote home, relations had hitherto been regulated ‘merely by letters without either commitment or contract’. When Balthasar protested to the monks it was not so much because they had ordered books from Lyons, but rather because the Anissons had unlawfully printed the Moretus name on their own products. The Antwerp printer's great fear was that the Hieronymites, either from annoyance or calculation, would seize the opportunity of excluding the Moretuses from the Peninsula and bring in competitors.” (Voet, p. 233)
The monks tried to “persuade” Balthasar to accept a mansion in Madrid in settlement of their debt, by threatening to set up their own printing press there. Bedazzled by the luxurious house, the callow youth would readily have acceded, but his mother Anna Goos, who managed the press from 1674 to 1681, forbade him, correctly judging the monks to be bluffing, and a contract was negotiated.
This explicitly forbade the monks from importing forged Plantin imprints.
Copies of this little book are very often found either untrimmed and in later bindings, or in sheets. Apparently the Moretus firm was left with a large number of unsold sheets, and the remainders continue to circulate.
Cf. Voet, The golden compasses, vol. 1, pp. 230-234; Maurits Sabbe, “Démêlés des Moretus avec les R.P. Jéromites de l'Escurial au XVIIe siècle,” De Gulden Passer, 7 (1929), pp. 119-145; for another copy see Pistner and Storm van Leeuwen, A Matter of Size 40a (also uncut. (Inventory #: 2886e)
(212) 579-2099![[Timaeus]. De universitate sive de origine mundi libellus](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/h/135/542/1665542135.0.m.jpg)
