Martin Preuß, ein Bistritzer Buchhändler (1511)

The author publishes a document from 1511 from Bistrita (Bistritz) in northern Transylvania concerning the bookseller Martin Preuss and a dispute he had with an other bookseller, Urban Kaym from Ofen (Buda) who sold him some books in Cluj (Klausenburg, Kolozsvár), but sued him afterward for an unknown reason. This case sheds nevertheless light on the early history of books in Hungary and Transylvania. The activity of Kaym in Transylvania shows that books from Ofen (almost exclusively ritual books for the archbishopric of Gran/ Esztergom) were sold not directly to the parishes, but to local booksellers who distributed them. In the years around 1500, books became to be sold in great numer due to the price-reduction that resulted from the mechanical book-production.