ABSTRACT
Tylman Susato, one of the most significant figures in early music printing in Antwerp and the Low Countries, produced books of motets and masses, chansons and other vernacular works, and instrumental music, from 1543 to 1561. It has proven difficult to establish the chronology of some of his editions because of apparent anomalies of dating, his use of hidden editions and the inevitable loss of material over time. This chapter re-examines his major motet series, the Libri ecclesiasticarum cantionum, showing that the surviving corpus is bibliographically more complex than previously realised. It revises substantially the printing history of this collection, and identifies up to four editions, rather than the two currently believed to exist. Similarly, it reconsiders the first reprinting of Susato’s main series of chanson books, suggesting a different impetus and a new chronology for their production. These revisions paint a fuller and differently weighted picture of Susato’s commercial activities, with implications for editors, the understanding of the trade itself and for reception studies.
