Mythologie c'est à dire explication des Fables, Lyon, Paul Frellon, 1612

This edition of the French translation is the fifth and last of Jean Montyard's lifetime. The translation was first published by Paul Frellon in 1600, 1604, and 1607. It was the beneficiary of a royal publishing priviledge taken out by Montlyard on June 28, 1597 so that “posterity could cull the fruit of the doctrines in this same book”. Some copies came out without a date on the frontispiece, and that is likely why references to a 1597 edition are sometimes found; however, the dedication to Henry de Bourbon in those copies, which dates from November 25, 1599, contradicts that information.

The publishing priviledge from 1597 had been granted for 10 years, and the translation became public domain after the third edition: the decree of Moulins (1566) which forbade the printing of new books without the king's permission, left total liberty to the reprinting of former ones. Montlyard, however, did not intend to let the text slip from his grasp. He requested a second royal privilege and obtained an extension, dated August 26, 1608, this time valid for six years “starting from the day on which the printing will be completed.” He based his arguments on his wish to expand his translation, which made the whole procedure possible. A contract was drawn up between Montlyard and Frellon on April 14, 1610, and the privilege was registered with parliament on January 22, 1611.

But, in that same year, three booksellers from Rouen, Jean Osmont, Manasses de Préaulx and Jacques Besongne, worked together to distribute the 1607 text in a lower-quality edition to those from Lyon, cheaper and easier to put out: success was a sure thing. The booksellers had taken advantage of a legal loophole. Rouen, then a major printing center, was governed by specific laws. The Norman court had set its own rules concerning re-printings, in a judgment from March 23, 1609: any bookseller who listed an 'old book' title with the professional register obtained exclusive rights for reprinting in that jurisdiction. Rushed by the competition, against which he protested in his 1612 address “From the Printer to the Good Reader”, Frellon hurriedly published the text again, reviewed by Montlyard, thus offering an illustrated edition to the public, and setting himself apart from their competitors (Bohnert, 2020). He took advantage of a stock of figures which he had used for the French translation of Imagini by Cartari in 1610 (Guiderdoni, 2020). The edition was put together in haste. It had mistypes that were absent from the prior editions, and, above all, many page numbering mistakes which are found in all copies to date.

Like the previous ones, the 1612 edition is dedicated to Henri de Bourbon, prince of Condé (see the portrait by Léonard Gaultier). In 1604, Montlyard had added a second dedication to Baron de Vignolles La Hire, repeated in 1607 and 1611, but omitted in that edition. It included added margin notes upon the initiative of either Frellon or Montlyard: these notes are absent from the Latin editions.
Jean Baudoin based his 1627 edition on the 1612 one. He undoubtedly did not consult the prior editions (Matsumura, 2020).

Content:
- Frontispice
- Dedication : « A tres-hault et tres-puissant Henri de Bourbon prince de Condé, Premier Prince du Sang & Premier Pair de France, Gouverneur général & Lieutenant pour sa Majesté  en ses païs de Guyenne » (*1r°-*3v°)
- « Privilege du Roy » (n.p.)
- « Extraict des Registres de Parlement » (n.p.)
- « L'Imprimeur au bening Lecteur » (n.p.)
- Portrait of Henri de Condé
- « Mythologie C'est à dire, explication des fables », Livres I-X (pp. 1-1120 [sic for 1122])
- « Repertoire general des principales et plus remarquables matieres contenues en la Mythologie de Noel Le Comte » (n.p.)

Auteur de la fiche : Bohnert, Céline (2020)