An analysis of book prices in Paris. The first bookseller's catalogue of Simon de Colines, c. 1540

This paper examines book prices advertised by Simon de Colines (d. 1546) in his earliest bookseller's catalogue, published c. 1540. His catalogue, consisting of 391 titles printed over six leaves and organized broadly by subject matter, lists prices for about 83% of the titles. After excluding unidentified editions and those with doubtful or incomplete bibliographic information as compared in printed bibliographies, online databases and library catalogues, the remaining 270 titles are analysed for their price per sheet, publication year, bibliographical format, language, and subject. The catalogue presents an economic snapshot of his book production.

Colines' catalogue is contemporaneous with that published by his step-son Robert I Estienne of 222 titles. Together, they constitute the earliest Parisian booksellers' catalogues with prices and provide ample comparative data for material aspects of book production. There is little title overlap in their earliest catalogues, however: only fifteen editions from Henri Estienne's backlist and thirteen published by Colines in the 1520s appear on both lists, most of which were sold more cheaply by Robert Estienne. Their otherwise divergent stock offered editions of the Old Testament and classical authors Cicero, Terence, Virgil and Sextus Aurelius Victor. The two catalogues suggest a degree of specialisation as well as contestation within the early modern book trade in Paris.