Parisian Printer and Bookseller: A Bibliography

摘要

STEPHEN RAWLES, after submitting his PhD in 1976 on Denis Janot, kept working on the complete bibliography of books printed by or for Janot for the next forty years. As a result, and with the help of the increased availability of catalogues and digital copies, he has now been able to extend his catalogue by more than ten per cent, from 350 to 391 entries, built on available information and an in-depth knowledge of Janot's printing materials. But this book is more than a bibliography. Although, as the author himself puts it, '"dry" bibliography should and does dominate', it offers a good number of additional tables, lists and indexes, as well as almost 200 pages of study and analysis, all based on the evidence of the books: two chapters retrace the career and interests of Janot and his collaborators, then a third chapter focuses on his printing materials. The introductory chapters are strongly linked to the material study of the books themselves. The first chapter is a descriptive story of Janot's publications, first as a libraire and then as a printer, with a focus on his collaboration and the material used. The second, 'Context and Achievement', organizes his work by areas of production, and ends with a very short analysis of Janot's interests and motivations. Janot is mostly known for his illustrated editions, partly in competition with Denis de Harsy in Lyon, and Rawles highlights in this chapter Janot's most important editions, giving some of the context needed to understand their importance. He has published more extensively on the Amadys de Gaule and on the Hecatomphile in The Library, Ⅵ, 1 (1979), 282-84 and 3 (1981), 91-108.