Bouchet’S Poetry

Abstract

Abstract Jean Bouchet’s proliic literary career spanned some sixty years, during which print became the dominant medium of transmission for French poetry. Very few manuscripts of Bouchet’s work survive, perhaps partly because Bouchet was never a court poet proper and was therefore less likely to invest in presentation manuscripts for his works. However, unlike Lemaire, Bouchet was able to participate in the publication of most of his works long after their irst editions. After Paris printers published pirate editions of his earliest poetry, he had the irst editions of his material printed irst in Paris and then, from 1518, in his home town of Poitiers, though later editions often appeared elsewhere. First editions usually bore a privilege; later in Bouchet’s career, these were granted to Bouchet himself rather than to printers.