| Record ID | cp012410 |
| Voet reference number | 1446 |
| Museum Plantin-Moretus | |
| Uniform title | INDEX LIBRORUM PROHIBITORUM |
| Title page transcription | INDEX ‖ EXPVRGATORIVS ‖ LIBRORVM QVI HOC SECV- ‖ LO PRODIERVNT, VEL DOCTRINAE ‖ non sanæ erroribus inspersis, vel inutilis & offensiuæ ‖ maledicentiæ fellibus permixtis, iuxta Sacri Concilij ‖ Tridentini Decretum; ‖ PHILIPPI II. Regis Catholici iussu & ‖ auctoritate, atque Albani Ducis consi- ‖ lio ac ministerio in Belgia concinnatus, ‖ Anno M.D. LXXI. ‖ ⊕ 22 ‖ ANTVERPIAE, ‖ Ex officina Christophori Plantini Prototypographi Regij. ‖ M.D.LXXI. |
| Collation | 4º [175]: [†⁴], *⁴, A-N⁴, O; pages [1-16], 1-104, [105-108] (Errors:…50-46-44-45-49-55-56-49-51-50-52-53-55-54-56-65…) |
| Fingerprint | 157104 - # a1 * de : # a2 * $ - # b1 A e : # b2 N3 que$a |
| Number of sheets | 15.50 |
| Pages | [1]: Title [2]: Decree of the Duke of Alva that only the 'prototypographus regius' has the right to print this work [3-6]: Ordinance of Philip II on the Index expurgatorius (in Dutch; Brussels, 31 July 1571, signed by D'Overloepe; gothic type) [7]: Warning not to change the text of the Index (roman type capitals) [8]: Regulae ex Concilio Tridentino [9-16]: Benedicti Ariae Montani Hispalensis, in correctorium indicem catholici regis auctoritate, et ducis Albani iussu editum praefatio (Antwerp, 1 June 1571) 1-104: Text (parts in italic type) [105-108]: Index (italic type) |
| Edition information | |
| Copies | Museum Plantin-Moretus- R 24.2- A 46KBR Royal Library of Belgium- VH 22789 A.L.P.: with autographed dedicatory of Arias Montanus, October 1571, to Michel BaiusRoyal Library of San Lorenzo de El EscorialGhent University LibraryBiblioteca Nacional de EspañaBibliothèque nationale de FranceUtrecht University LibraryUL Liège- XIV.110.004 [16°]KU Leuven- Special Collections, RA54389UNamur- R6A.0442 |
| Bibliographical references | Ruelens-de Backer, page 19 (1571, no. 19) Bib. catholica Neerlandica impressa, no. 3295Cockx-Indestege, E. Belgica typographica 1561 Sorgeloos, C. Labore et constantia, 1589-1989 : a collection of 510 editions issued by Christopher Plantin from 1555 till 1589, nr. 268 |
| Online bibliographical references | STCV c:stcv:12919205 |
| Note 1 | List of works containing passages which had to be deleted, with the precise indication of the parts to be 'purged', classified in categories: Theologici Libri, Iurisprudentia, Medicina, Libri Philosophici, Libri Mathematici, Humaniores Disciplinae, and ending with the 'Expurgatio Operum Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami' (with the specification that the pages given refer to the in folio edition of the Opera at Basel by Frobenius, 1540). |
| Note 2 | The ordinance of Philip II, 31 July 1571 (pages 3-6; in Dutch) specifies that the king, following the precepts of the Council of Trente, has ordered to compile a catalogue of the books containing passages to be purged, with references to those passages. Consequently, he established in Antwerp a college of censors under the presidency of a 'religious and learned' bishop and 'another competent person' to compile this index. He has the catalogue printed on his own cost, but the copies were not to be sold but to be distributed among the 'visitateurs' (librorum censores) now and in the future. He ordered furthermore that the books collected in the bookshops by the authorities as well as the editions which would be brought in, should be examined according to the Index expurgatorius, the offending passages erased, and the books rendered to the owners with the signature of the 'visitateur' who performed the operation. In order to speed up the process the prelates may choose in each town where booksellers are active one or two of them to help looking through the publications; those booksellers may receive a copy of the Index expurgatorius, but with interdiction to communicate the index or copies made from it to others. The fact that this Index was a rather secret document, not to be sold to the great public, is also stressed in the notes on page [2] ('Ducis Albae iussu ac decreto cavetur, ne quis praeter Prototypographum Regium hunc Indicem imprimat, neve ille aut quis alius publice vel private vendat, aut citra ordinariorum facultatem, aut permissionem habeat') and page [7] ('Cavetur etiam ne quis hunc indicem parte aliqua augeat, vel minuat, neve ex impressis manuscriptum exprimat, citra gubernatoris et consilii auctoritatem'). |
| Note 3 | The 'competent person' at Antwerp, referred to in the royal ordinance, was Arias Montanus, who in the 'praefatio', dated Antwerp, 1 June 1571 (pages 9-16), gives some information about the enterprise, but without detailing the names of the members of the commission (except that it consisted of theologians under a bishop, and, at the express order of Philip II, of Arias Montanus himself), or the specific procedures followed. It is only said that letters were sent to the archbishops, bishops and universities, that 9 months have been spent on the compilation, and that owing to this limited time-schedule the index is far from complete. In the caption to the 'Expurgatio Operum Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami' (page 82), it is stated that this list was 'a facultate theologica Academiae Lovaniensis facta et exhibita, atque a collegio censorum, Antverpiae constituta comprobata, et Regia auctoritate firmata'. It may be surmised that in general the same procedure was followed by the same commission as for the redaction of the 1570-Index (see no. cp010145). |
| Note 4 | In a letter of 19 September 1571, P. d'Overloepe, secretary to the Privy Council, gives Plantin some instructions regarding the edition. The Index expurgatorius contained, besides the index proper, the royal ordinance regarding the catalogue. Plantin had expressed the wish to know if a number of these ordinances needed to be printed separately, without the index itself. The clerks of the Councils of Flanders, Holland, etc., had already asked d'Overloepe for printed copies. At that moment d'Overloepe had only been able to repeat what Michiel Hamont (Brussels bookseller and correspondent of Plantin) had told him, namely that Plantin was forbidden from distributing copies of the ordinance until the index was printed. To know for himself he had asked a colleague to put the question before the Council of the Duke of Alva, and could now tell Plantin that the typographer was permitted to print [extra-] copies of the ordinance without the index, but not at the expenses of the king (who paid the printing of the Index) (Corr., II, no. 288, and III, no. 372). It is not clear if subsequently Plantin issued the ordinance in a separate edition. |
| Note 5 | The details of the printing are entered by Jan Moretus in the Journal of 1571, at the date of 30 September (Arch. 49, folio 118v): of the Index expurgatorius 750 copies were printed. As each copy contains 15½ sheets, 24 reams of paper (including 15 'mains' of 'imperfections') were used, which, at 4 florins Carolus guilders 10 stuivers per ream (= this sum including the price of the paper and the wages for composing and printing), brought the costs to 108 florins Carolus guilders As additional expenses are entered: 'Item pour les dernières feilles à placquer…en a esté imprimé (?)' and 'Item pour demie rame de placcarts imprimés outre les dits Indices expurg. vallant florins Carolus guilders 2 10 stuivers' (= meaning very likely 250 copies of the poster, described in following no.). Jan Moretus added 'Mon père dict en avoir receu 50 lb. de gros par l'adresse de Monseigneur [Arias Montanus]' (text of this note in Corr., III, page 86, n. 3). |
| Note 6 | Six 'Indices Expurgatorias' were at the beginning of June 1572 mailed by Plantin to Alonso de la Vera Cruz at the Court in Madrid (Corr., III, no. 187). |
| Note 7 | The list of books figuring in the Index expurgatorius was also reproduced in a special poster (in all probability to be hung in the bookshops): see following no. |
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