Abstract
Throughout his prolific publishing career Conrad Gessner composed abundant paratexts which offer valuable insight into his methods of working. Gessner wrote many dedications, only a minority of which were addressed to major patrons of his day. Instead he used them to thank dozens of physicians and scholars for sending him information, images, and manuscripts for his ongoing projects. Gessner acknowledged new arrivals in successive publications and invited further contributions explicitly. In "to the readers" and other passages Gessner called attention to his future publication plans and his skill in working with printers and in editing manuscripts of recently deceased scholars, thereby also encouraging new commissions. Gessner was also a master indexer and innovated especially in drawing up the first index of authors cited for his edition of Stobaeus in 1543 and a new all-purpose index in his Stobaeus of 1549. Many other aspects of Gessner's paratexts warrant further study.
Highlights
Throughout his prolific publishing career Conrad Gessner composed abundant paratexts which offer valuable insight into his methods of working
Gessner used all the forms of paratext commonly found in scholarly works in this period – dedications, "to the readers," tables of contents, lists of authorities cited, commendatory poems, alphabetical indexes, and lists of errata – and more rarefied features generally limited to classical editions, such as lists of emendations, and excerpts about the author from other authorities
Gessner's paratexts contain many surprises: he volunteered unusual detail about his methods of working, the circumstances of publication, and his relations with correspondents and printers; he published so frequently that he carried on a kind of one-sided conversation with his readers, inviting contributions to his ongoing projects and commenting on other publications past and future; and he experimented with new forms, though some of them remained one-offs, e.g
Summary
Throughout his prolific publishing career Conrad Gessner composed abundant paratexts which offer valuable insight into his methods of working.
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