From Lyons to Antwerp

This article examines the multilingual transmission of the late medieval idyllic romance Paris et Vienne. The genealogy of incunabula editions of this pan-European bestseller is obscured by an unsettled bibliographical record. The little-known first French edition printed circa 1480 is likely the first printing in any language. The analysis highlights textual and paratextual transformations from the French editio princeps to Gheraert Leeu’s illustrated edition of 1487. I argue that the second Lyons imprint is the source of Leeu’s edition or that they share a common source. Identification and collation of French sources brings into focus the transmission process and illuminates the ways in which the illustrated editions published in Antwerp accelerated circulation across Europe. Leeu’s multilingual adaptation offers a rare example of triangulated cross-cultural transfers, in which translations of French-language texts were produced with an eye on the Anglophone print marketplace.