Colard Mansion et l’Imprimeur du Flavius Josèphe : deux collaborateurs à Bruge. Essai sur les relations entre les productions manuscrite et imprimée à Bruges à la fin du xve siècle

Abstract

Colard Mansion is a well-known printer in Bruges, but he began his career as a copyist and librarian. He continued to practice this activity during his printing period as shown by a rare contract made in 1480, in which he committed to produce a copy of the French translation of the Facta and dicta memorabilia of Valerius Maximus by Simon de Hesdin and Nicolas de Gonesse for Philippe de Hornes, lord of Gaesbeeck (Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, ms. 5194-5195). It appeared that this manuscript was clearly copied from a copy of the editio princeps of this text. This edition bears no indication of location, date or even printer. It was ascribed to an anonymous printer active in the Southern Netherlands, named the Printer of Flavius Josephus according to one of his editions. Beginning with this clue, the links between this printer and Mansion appear to be tight and this opens the way to a rather different vision of the librarian activity of Mansion in Bruges.