The Sixteenth-Century French Religious Book

This study comprises the proceedings of a conference held in St Andrews in 1999 which gathered some of the most distinguished historians of the French book. It presents the 16th-century book in a new context and provides the first comprehensive view of this absorbing field. Four major themes are reflected here: the relationship between the manuscript tradition and the printed book; an exploration of the variety of genres that emerged in the 16th century and how they were used; a look at publishing and book-selling strategies and networks, and the ways in which the authorities tried to control these; and a discussion of the way in which confessional literature diverged and converged. The range of specialist knowledge embedded in this study will ensure its appeal to specialists in French history, scholars of the book and of 16th-century French literature, and historians of religion.

Contents: The 16th-century French religious book project, Andrew Pettegree; Religious drama and the printed book in France during the late 15th and 16th centuries, Graham A. Runnalls; The 16th-century French emblem book as a form of religious literature, Alison M. Saunders; Books of hours, Virginia Reinburg; Religious instruction in the work of Jean Bouchet, Jennifer J. Britnell; Education and works of religious instruction in French, Karin Maag; La naissance de l'historiographie protestante, Jean-François Gilmont; Religion and the State: Joachim du Bellay's views on the duties of the Most Christian King and his subjects, David Hartley; Jean de l'Espine (c.1505-97): écrire dans un temps de troubles, Bernard Roussel; Satire, dramatic stereotyping and the demonizing of Henry III, Keith Cameron; Henry IV and the press, Michael Wolfe; La réception de l'Ã0/00dit de Nantes: illusions et désillusions de la 'tolérance', Olivier Christin; La censure au quotidien: le contrÃ-le de l'imprimerie à Genève, 1560-1600, Ingeborg Jostock; Rewriting Protestant history: printing, censorship by pastors, and the dimensions of dissent among the Huguenots - the La Popelinière case at La Rochelle, 1581-85, Kevin C. Robbins; Three audiences for religious books in 16th-century France, Paul Nelles; A provincial perspective: Protestant print culture in southern France, Philip Conner; A bookseller's world: the 'inventaire' of Vincent Réal, Francis Higman with Yann Morvant and Marc Vial; Private library as public danger: the case of Duplessis Mornay, Roger Kuin; Index.