ABSTRACT
Priming was introduced imo Spain somewhat later than imo Germany, France and haly, ma ny of the fi rst primers being of Ge rmanic origin, often arriving in Spain after some time in haly.2 There is a claim that as earl y as 1472, Johannes Parix of Heidelberg was active in Segovia. With more certaimy, it is a ll eged that books were printed by Botel, Holtz and Planck in Barcelona in 1473, in Sa ragossa in 1473 or 1474, and in 1473 by Palmart in Valencia.) Clearly da ted books, however, begin only in 1475 with Johannes de Salsburga (= Juan Planck or Blanco) and Paul us (Hurus) de Constantia in Barcelona, Matheus Flander in Sa ragossa, and by an unnamed primer, possib ly Lambert Palmart, in Valencia.4 From the beginning, some books were printed in gothic type, some in roma n. Roman had virtually disappeared in most cemres by the early sixteemh century; gothic was remarkably resistant in Spain, especiall y for works in the vernacular and for liturgica l books. Theological wo rks tended to be produced in
the smaller formats, small quarto, octavo and duodecimo, and, unlike the popular romances, few of them had any illustration beyond the tide-page and ornamental capitals. At first, there seemed to he no idea that the hook trade was anything hut advantageous to the country. The Crown seems to have invited two firms to set up their presses in Seville, granting them various privileges and exemptions. One was the 'Compafieros alemanes',s and the other was formed by Meinardo Ungut and Stanislao Polono, who had previously worked wirh Matthias Moravus in Naples.' In 1480 books imponed into Castile were officiaHy exempted frorn import duties. The ecclesiastica l censorship of theological works enjoined by a buH of Pope Innocent VIII in 1487 appears to have functioned patchily and sporadica lly in most parts of Spain. However, by the beginning of the sixteenth cenrury rhe authorities discerned ce rtain dislurhing tendencies in the trade, and a Iicensing system for a ll books printed or imported into Castile and Leön was imposed by a royal decree of Ferdinand and Isabella in July 1502. The power to license printing was put into the hands of a motley co llection of civil and ecclesiastica l authorities, and books were authorized before printing and verified afterwards. Harsh penahies were laid down for failure to comply. The same theoretically rigid but frequently circumvented control does not seem to have existed for the Aragonese realms. Another form of royal intervention, often in response to supplication by interested panies, was the granting of 'privileges' wh ich fixed a numher of years during which unauthorized printing of the work concerned was prohibited, as was the import of other editions. Such privileges could he ohtained by rhe author, the publisher, the printer, or, occasionally, the translator. Again, severe penalties were decreed foe infractions; even so, such transgressions were commonplace. 7
When reformist ideas enjoyed a certain vogue and works by Erasmus and his followers were being freely printed, most printers seern to have been rnotivated exclusively by considerations of profit (although no printer, however altruistic, can completely ignore [he financial aspects of his production). Only Miguel de Eguia in Alcala de Henares and the Crornbergers in Seville appear to have feit some affinity wirh the aims of rhe movement, and in fact Jacobo Cromberger bought from Eguia
294 THE REFORMATION AND THE BOOK
the right [Q prim the first edition of Erasmus's Enchiridion. Nevertheless, both also printed works which took the opposing view.8 No extant work exists to give evidence of caregorically Protestant material ever having been printed in Spain.
