In the first Century, B.C., authors, scribes, copyists and booksellers fell under the auspices, of Ancient Rome's publishing world; it was an extensive organized production of active trade of copied scribal texts. This process contained for the author, not payment, but rather the support of a patron, until Cicero.
Cicero and Atticus
According to the eminent scholars Reynolds and Wilson; "The librarii do not seem to have met the high standards of a discriminating author, for Cicero, he complains of the poor quality of their work (Q.f. 3-.4.5, 5.6). Atticus, who had lived for a long time in Greece and there had some experience of a well-established book trade, put his staff of trained librarii at the service of his friends. Atticus would carefully revise a work for him, criticize points of style or content, discuss the advisability of publication or the suitability of a title, hold private readings of the new book, send out complimentary copies, organize its distribution. His standards of execution were of the highest and his name a guarantee of quality"
The Ecclesiastical Scribes
Granted, a very desirable beginning for generations of writers to come, yet by the fourth century the book trade in Rome was collapsing. The two most prominent and detrimental reasons was constant war with foreign invaders, which made travel unsafe for the book traders and the Church, which was growing rapidly in size and power. There was the fortunate aspect that in the preservation and reproduction of manuscripts and ancient writings was the Church began to commandeer the whole writing and publishing process by using her monasteries, specifically the Benedictine Order. The consequence was of course for the writer, who no longer receiving payment for their work, had little in the way of writing anything beyond the religious.
The Invention of the Printing PressTo comprehend the revolution Gutenberg made on the book industry, it is worthy to note as an example how slow and tedious copying manuscripts were; in 1050 AD, for example, the Exeter Cathedral with a scriptorium full of skilled copyists, the monks were only able to produce sixty-two books in twenty two years. With the advent of the printing press in Venice of the 1460's, a major manufacturer of books at the time was able to print 2835 works by the end of the century. Though once again, privileges were only granted to printers, not the authors. Yet, on September 1, 1486, the Cabinet of the Venice Republic granted Marc' Antonio Sabellico the privilege of publishing his History of Venice. This allowed him to choose which printer would publish his book. If any other attempted to print, they were fined 500 ducats. This raised a new precedent for author and copyright protection, though it wasn't until the Statue of Anne in 1710 that remuneration for authors came into existence and a viable copyright of their works became secure.
Scribes and Scholars, by L.D. Reynolds, Oxford University Press, 3rd Edition, 1991, ISBN: 978019821468
Of Monks, Medieval Scribes, and Middlemen, by Peter K. Yu, Drake University Law School, MSU Legal Studies Research Paper, No. 03-25, 2009 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc.
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