A variant copy of konrad gessner's "bibliotheca universalis"1

Until recently, no variant copy or cancellation of Konrad Gessner's uBiblio-Theca Universalis" was known. The author examined five copies in Japan and four copies at the Zurich Central Library (Copies A, B, C and D), as well as one at Basel University Library, and discovered that variant copies do exist. Copy A was Gessncr's own copy, to which he added numerous notes, especially on fol. 454V. As a result of comparison with Copy B (Konrad Pellikan's copy), it appears that Gessner corrected the text of lines 4-30 on this folio, shortened it to n lines, and added 18 new lines. The printer, Froschauer, recomposed four formes from fol. 453r to 454V, reprinted them and cancelled the former printed sheet of fol. 453r-4j4V. Copies B and D (Konrad Klauser's copy), the Basel copy, and the five copies in Japan arc considered to be the ideal copies and Copies A and C (Jacques Dubois's copy) are regarded as variant copies. One part of the printing process of the "Bibliotheca Universalis" became clear with this discovery.