Representation of authorship in the paratexte of post-incunabula in Paris : “Maistre Francoys Villon" and Pierre Gringore “dit Mere Sotte" <Articles>

On April 30, 1504, Andre de la Vigne appealed to the Parlement of Paris against Michel Le Noir, a publisher in Paris who was going to print, without permission, la Vigne's work Vergier d'honneur. This fact means that at the begining of the 16th century an author was asserting publicly his ownership of a writing. At about the same time, as the printing press enabled publication of a lot of books, paratextes (title page, wood cut, colophon, etc.) became substantial, unlike back in the manuscripts age. So, how did the representation of authors claiming the possession of textes appear in paratextes? On the title pages of Francois Villon's Testament, the author's name "Villon" was changed to "Maistre Francoys Villon" in the transition from incunabula to post-incunabula. This change to the addition of the author's name was seen similarly in Le Recueil des Repues Franches, published at the same time. This shows that at this time there was a movement toward independent titles and away from the simple attached mark title of incunabula. Different from Villon, who could not attend his publication, Pierre Gringore participated in his publication and put the creativity of the author in his paratexte: sometimes his signature "GRINGORE" in acrostic, or a reference in colophon, a privilege from the king, a wood cut of Mere Sotte who was the representative of the author, his motto "Raison par tout", or a clear statement with the title showing the backing of power in the title name of books. While the independence of the title was expressed in the appearance of his full name in the 1511 work entittled Chasse du cerf des cerfz, Gringore continued asserting possession of his texte