| Abstrakt: |
The Imperial Book Committee (Kaiserliche Bücherkommission) was created in the 16th century in Frankfurt am Main, to function as an institute overlooking the annual Frankfurter Buchmesse - the book fair. Spreading reformation, particularly strong in this town, was supported by the improved technique of mechanic printing, that allowed books to be massively distributed and called after a stricter control and censorship from the authorities. The Committee was subjected to the Royal Court Council (Reichshofrat) and its main role was to control the printers and printed books that were to be sold on the Book fair. It did so through variety of means, including managing the royal printing permit for bookprinters, controlling the provided lists of printed books and Book fair catalogue and later also punishing printers, that were avoiding the censorship conditions. The Frankfurter Buchmesse gradually declined under the rule of this Committe and was temporarily replaced by the buchmesse in Leipzig. The aim of this essay is thus to analyse the amount of censorship applied on the Book fair and particular merchants, how it was enforced and what were the results, based on the preserved archival sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
