History of Rare Plants

We will that [the offender] be punished by the Imperial avenger of frauds, with the penalty to be paid and weighed equally to the injured party; on this condition, however, that these works contain nothing contrary to the Orthodox Catholic Religion, and that three copies of every work or book, once printed, be sent to our Imperial Chancery. If this is neglected, he and his heirs shall be deemed to have forfeited this our grace and privilege. We therefore command all and singular our subjects and beloved faithful of the Holy Roman Empire, both Ecclesiastical and Secular, of whatever status, grade, Order, or Condition they may be—especially those who are appointed to the Magistracy and exercise the administration of Law or Justice in their own name or that of their superiors—that they permit no one to violate, despise, or neglect this our Privilege or interdict with impunity. But if they find any who are defiant, they shall see to it that they are punished with the prescribed penalty and restrained by whatever means may rightly be done, insofar as they themselves wish to avoid our gravest indignation. To this we bear witness by the present letters, signed with our own hand and fortified by the impression of our Imperial seal. Given in our Royal Castle at Prague, on the fifteenth day of the month of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand, five hundred and ninety-three: in the eighteenth year of our Roman reign, the twenty-first of our Hungarian, and likewise the eighteenth of our Bohemian.

Jacobus Curtius of Senfftenaw.

To you, Jan Moretus original: "Ioannes Morete"; the successor to the famous Plantin Press in Antwerp, who have shared with me no small expense in the painting and engraving of these Plants, to you, I say, I grant permission to print and publish with your types this my History of Rare Plants and the small books joined to it: nor do I desire or authorize anyone else to do so elsewhere within twenty years, under the pains and fines contained in the letters of His Sacred Imperial Majesty granted to me.

SUMMARY OF THE PRIVILEGE OF THE PRINCES OF BELGIUM.

By the privilege of Albert and Isabella, Infanta of Spain, Archdukes of Austria, Dukes of Brabant, etc., it is provided that no one—without the will of Jan Moretus, printer of Antwerp—shall in any way print the History of Rare Plants by Charles de l'Écluse (formerly a member of the household of the Imperial August Courts of Maximilian II and Rudolph II), nor import it into these regions of Lower Germany The Low Countries/Netherlands if printed elsewhere, nor offer it for sale, for a period of twelve years. Whoever shall do otherwise shall be punished by the confiscation of the books and other heavy penalties, as is more broadly evident in the letters given at Brussels, March 3, 1601.

Signed, J. de Buschere.