Whereas, by decree of His Sacred Imperial Majesty, it is seriously and firmly forbidden to each and every Printer and Bookseller, and to [all] others carrying on any book-trade whatsoever, that anyone should dare or presume — within the bounds of the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire and of the hereditary dominions of His Imperial Majesty — to reprint (whether in whole or in part), in a like or another kind or form of type, any books hitherto published or hereafter to be published by our Fathers [of the Society], or to send [them] to be reprinted elsewhere, or to bring in, sell, and distribute [copies] printed elsewhere, secretly or openly, without the judgment and testimony of the aforesaid Fathers: I, HENRY SCHERER [Henricus Scherenus], of the Society of Jesus, Provincial through the Rhine province, grant to Johann Albin and Balthasar Lippius, printers of Mainz, the faculty of printing the Commentaries on JOSHUA, JUDGES, [and] RUTH — written by Fr. Nicolaus Serarius, Theologian of the Society of Jesus, and approved by the Fathers deputed for that [purpose] — now to be printed by the power granted to me by our Very Reverend Father General, CLAUDIO AQUAVIVA. In faith of which [things], we have willed to give to them this testimony, subscribed by our hand and secured with [our] seal. At Mainz, on the 3rd of the Nones of April [3 April], in the year 1609.
HENRY SCHERER.
Summary of the Royal Privilege, and the Faculty of the Provincial Superior of France.
IGNATIUS ARMAND [Ignatius Armandus], Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus in the Province of France — in accordance with the privilege granted to the same Society by the Most Christian Kings, Henry III (on the 10th day of the month of May, in the year 1583) and Henry IV (on the 20th of December, in the year 1606), by which all booksellers and printers are forbidden to print books composed by men of the same Society without the permission of [their] Superiors — permits Edmund Martin, printer of Paris, that he may, for the next six years, print and freely sell the book which is entitled “A Commentary of Nicolaus Serarius on the Book of Joshua, divided into two volumes.” Given at Paris, 4 January 1610.
IGNATIUS ARMAND.