f their wealth and mental capacity, to
maintain and to appreciate these important concessions; the bookseller
was expected indeed to be well versed in all branches of science, and to
be thoroughly imbued with a knowledge of those subjects and works of
which he undertook to produce transcripts.[68] She moreover required of
him testimonials to his good character, and efficient security, ratified
by a solemn oath of allegiance,[69] and a promise to observe and submit
to all the present and future laws and regulations of the university. In
some cases, it appears that she restricted the number of librarii, though
this fell into disuse as the wants of the students increased. Twenty-four
seems to have been the original number,[70] which is sufficiently great
to lead to the conclusion that bookselling was a flourishing trade in
those old days. By the statutes of the university, the bookseller was
not allowed to expose his transcripts for sale, without first submitting
them to the inspection of certain officers appointed by the university,
and if an error was discovered, the copies were ordered to be burnt or a
fine levied on them, proportionate to their inaccuracy. Harsh and
stringent as this may appear at first sight, we shall modify our opinion,
on recollecting that the student was in a great degree dependent upon the
care of the transcribers for the fidelity of his copies, which rendered a
rule of this nature almost indispensable; nor should we forget the great
service it bestowed in maintaining the primitive accuracy of ancient
writers, and in transmitting them to us through those ages in their
original purity.[71]

In these times of free trade and unrestrained commercial policy, we shall
regard less favorably a regulation which they enforced at Paris,
depriving the bookseller of the power of fixing a price upon his own
goods. Four booksellers were appointed and sworn in to superintend this
department, and when a new transcript was finished, it was brought by the
bookseller, and they discussed its merits and fixed its value, which
formed the amount the bookseller was compelled to ask for it; if he
demanded of his customer a larger sum, it was deemed a fraudulent
imposition, and punishable as such. Moreover, as an advantage to the
students, the bookseller was expected to make a considerable reduction in
his profits in supplying them with books; by one of the laws of the
university, his profit on each volume was confined to fo