Francesca Galligan, Bodleian Rare Books
There were many women printing in the 16th century. But for a variety of reasons, it can be hard to find their work in library catalogues.
Yolande Bonhomme is a good example of this.
She came from a printing family: her father Pasquier Bonhomme was a celebrated Parisian printer, and her husband Thielmann Kerver also ran a printing business in Paris. Bonhomme took over Kerver’s business when he died in 1522, as was permitted by the Guild system in 16th-century Paris. Reports of her output vary, from 200 editions (Beatrice Beech, based on Renouard) to 136 (Axel Erdmann), before her own death in 1557.
While Kerver printed widely, with various editions of classical authors, Bonhomme focused on liturgical and devotional books.
She continued to use her husband’s device on the title-pages and at the colophons of her books, referring to herself most often simply as “vidua” – the widow – of Thielmann Kerver.
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- Bodleian Douce BB 114
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- Bodleian Meerm. subt. 645
Because she does not usually name herself, it is her husband’s name that is sometimes picked out in library catalogues, and Bonhomme is found only with a bit more work. The Bodleian’s online catalogue SOLO gives this entry for the book below:
Hore deipare virginis marie secūdū vsum Romanū.
Hours
1523 | Par. T. Keruer | (8⁰)
Bodleian Vet. E1 f.205
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- Among those of her books in the Bodleian, there are a handful of examples where Yolande Bonhomme does name herself (alongside her husband, or with his device), for example this Bible (Paris, 1534), Bodleian Tanner 158 (2)
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- This book, printed for John Growte, a Norman bookseller based in London, is one of many liturgical and devotional books that Yolande Bonhomme printed for the English market. Bodleian Gough missals 48
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- Another, which uses some of the same images, is the very rare Enchiridion (handbook) of 1528, two copies of which are in the Bodleian (according to the English Short Title Catalogue, the only place to hold this edition). The book is printed in red and black, and the illustrations have captions in English. Bodleian Douce E 2
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- Bonhomme also printed for other booksellers, or used their borders. In this book, she does not name herself at all, or use Kerver’s device. The printer is anonymous in the Bodleian catalogue, but the catalogue of the Bibliothèque national de France tells us that it is her work, using the woodcut title-page border of the printer Pierre Gromors. Bodleian Antiq.f.U.1528.1
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- By the 1550s, Yolande Bonhomme names herself, alone, on the title-page. Bodleian Antiq.g.F.1551.1
Additional reading: Beatrice Beech, ‘Yolande Bonhomme: a Renaissance printer’, Medieval prosopography 6.2, 1985; Axel Erdmann, My gracious silence: women in the mirror of 16th century printing in Western Europe, 1999.
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