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---
title: On books, their trade, and their use
categories: rules
---
# The Economy of Books
Ars Magica players often argue about the availability of books
within the Order of Hermes, and every troupe has to make a choice.
Does the Order have the resources to enable publication and
distribution on an almost industrial scale? Or do the magi live
under almost normal medieval circumstances, where books are rare and
expensive?
A case can be made for either position. The question is not really
which alternative is most plausible, because each is plausible under
certain assimptions. The question is rather which alternatives gives
the right feel for your story, and what assumptions should be made to
make a consistent interpretation of Mythic Europe.
Below, I will outline two alternatives which I consider plausible and
internally consistent.
In both cases, the interpretation of *Cow and Calf* will be central, so
let's review that principle first.
## Cow and Calf
Cow and Calf is the canon interpretation of medieval copyright.
> It is an agreement that the purchaser of a book will not sell, or freely give, copies of that book without the seller’s permission.
[Cov:95]
Thus, in canon, authors and covenants may sell copies of their books,
reserving all rights to future copies. This makes it possible for
good authors to earn good vis on a couple of good books.
The principle of Cow and Calf originates with the dispute between
St. Columba and Finian in Ireland in the 6th Century.
Briefly told, St Columba secretly copied a book from Finian's collection,
and Finian claimed that the copy would belong to him, as the book's owner.
The king was asked to arbitrate, and ruled in Finian's favour, with the
famous words:
> To every cow belongs its calf; to every book its copy.
To consider the analog first.
Cows are commonly rented for the milk with the understanding that
any offspring belong to the cow and its owner, unless explicitly agreed
otherwise.
However, when a calf is *sold*, the seller would not make a claim to
its grand calf.
Contrary to the canon interpretation of Cow and Calf, the historical
interpretation applies only on books on loan or lease, including
scribal hospitality.
+ Reference: [Ruth Suehle](https://opensource.com/law/11/6/story-st-columba-modern-copyright-battle-sixth-century-ireland)
## World 1. Hermetic Book Industry
*Covenants* suggest a bustling Hermetic book trade.
Some covenants specialise in copying books for sale, circulating catalogues
with the redcaps, who can broker deals.
A large number of covenants are able to recruit, train, and retain
mundane scribes trained in magic theory, and they produce enough copies
to satisfy the market.
## World 2. Medieval Scarcity of Books
It may be difficult for covenants to recruit enough staff to copy books
in a large scale. The effect of the Gift makes the posting at the covenant
unattractive, and there are enough other opportunities. The few covenants
who are able to copy books in large quantities use it for political advantage.
Books are not offered on the open market, but allies and close contacts
may be able to negotiate trade.
## Lease and hospitality
Trading books to own is not the only way to share and publish knowledge
in Mythic Europe. There are at least two more options.
1. Books are lent or leased. Since the owner retains ownership, these
books may be regarded under Cow and Calf, even in a historical
interpretation.
2. Scribal hospitality, also condoned by canon [Cov], where a magus pays
to stay at another covenant to use their library. The visiting magus
may or may not be granted a license to copy.
# House rules on book production
*Covenants* provides a ruleset to give more variation in book levels.
Potentially, this gives story hooks as the covenant need to make
an effort to recruit expert scribes and craftsmen. However, there is
a risk that only the very best is considered satisfactory, and a lot
of time is wasted fiddling with the details of securing the right
staff and supplies. The troupe has to choose if it is worth this risk.
Comparing the rules for writing and copying summæ on arts and abilities,
there are a couple of confusing rules.
1. Calculating the cost in build points [Cov] and the quality gain
from reduced level, an ability level equates to three art levels.
2. To calculate the time taken to author a summa, an ability level
equates to five art levels.
3. Copying summæ, at least as the rules are written, art and ability
levels count the same.
The last item is probably a misprint, and the factor for copying should
be the same as for authoring. The factor of five may seem excessive though.
A level 5 ability summa takes the same time to author as a level 25 art
summa. The former accounts for 75xp while the latter accounts for 325xp.
The core rules have an option for fast copying, whereby the quality is
reduced by one. The effect is ambiguous, as it is not clear if
the inferior copy can serve as an original to make full-quality copies.
It could be that the fast copy is complete, but harder and slower to
read. It could also be that some information is lost in the fast copying,
by missing minor details.
If the latter option is chosen, it has an interesting consequence.
Covenants who produce books for sale, can choose to fast copy, retaining
a better original themselves than what they offer to the client.
The client will not be able to produce new copies at the same price and
quality of the original seller. This allows the seller to retain a
commercial advantage, even without legal copyright protection.
## Proposed house rules.
1. We do not use the optional book rules from [Cov].
2. For the purpose of calculating the time to author or copy an ability summa,
the author or copyist need to accumulate points equal to three times
the level. Thus an ability level is considered equivalent to three
art levels in all respects.
3. When a book is fast copied, information is lost.
That is, when a book has reduced quality from fast copying,
it cannot serve as the original to make copies of full quality.
If it is fast copied again, the quality drops another point.
# Proposed Economics of Book Trade
The following is a suggestion for prices and lead times, based on the
assumption that some covenants copy texts in sufficient scale to allow
redcaps to organise brokering.
However, the logistics is not perfect, and it is not fast.
I have deliberately tried to avoid the ideaised mail order service
that some sagas support.
Prices may seem high, but they include brokers' fees to the redcap.
Better prices can be obtained by making good contacts and trade
directly with the different book producers, but this requires time and
skill to achieve.
If the player characters go into book production, the price they
get is half the price paid; the other half covering brokerage
and transport.
For each category of item, I provide a suggested price and a suggested
chance of the item being available. The availability could be rerolled,
say every ten or twenty years, indicating changes in both supply and
demand.
It is expected that it takes six seasons (1½ year) from the magi decide
to order until the item is available at the covenant. This is assuming
that the redcaps visit the covenant every season. This accounts for
the time it takes to deliver the order, locate a provider, copy the
item, and deliver it to the ordering covenant.
## Hermetic Books
There is quite a selection of Hermetic books on a regular basis.
It is suggested that once a given title has been rolled to exist,
the stats are fixated for that art.
While other titles may exist of similar stats, there should not be
a large number of them, and a second title of the same category should
have a much lower chance to exist.
Magi should not be able to know the exact stats of a book until they
have been able to inspect it.
The prices should vary slightly between tribunal. The present prices
were designed for Hibernia, but are probably to low for those outskirts
of the Order.
| Type | Price | Comment |
|------------|------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Roots of the arts | 1p/root | Covering nine of the arts. It is suggested to assign each of the following stats to a random art: L5Q21, L6Q19, L6Q20, L6Q21, L7Q18, L7Q20, L8Q16, L8Q18, L9Q15. These are usually more readily at hand than other books, and are typically delivered within a year. |
| Low Level summæ | 15pvf/summa | 80% chance per art. Level 7+2d3 (9-13). Quality 27+1D4-level |
| Medium Level summæ | 21pvf/summa | 90% chance per art. Level 11+2d3 (13-17). Quality 27+1D4-level |
| High Level summæ | 28pvf/summa | 75% chance per art. Level 15+2d3 (17-21). Quality 27+1D4-level |
| Magic Theory | 21pvf | L5Q13. There are two very popular titles available:
| Magic Theory | 28pvf | L7Q10. There are two very popular titles available:
| Other abilities | 14+level pvf | For each of Penetration, Finesse, and Magic and Faerie Lores, two sound summæ exist, level is 2D3+1. Quality is 27+1D4-level. |
| Tractatus | 3pvf | See below |
| Parma Magica | N/A | While books on Parma Magica may exist, the redcaps will not take the responsibility for delivery, for fear they be lost. |
Note that I assume that Cow and Calf does not apply to books sold,
so these books can be copied and sold.
The books are normally fast copied, and thus the selling covenant have
originals of quality one higher. This lost point of quality cannot be
recovered, as it represents flaws and irregularities which are only spotted
by careful study byu an expert.
## Tractatus
Tractatus should be quite abundant, but there should not be an unlimited supply.
For each art, as well as Magic Theory, Finesse, Penetration, and faerie and magic lore,
roll 7+1D6 for the highest quality available, and
1D6 for the number of titles available at this level.
In most cases, especially for quality 10 and above, all the
available tractatus are authored by the same author.
For each quality level from 8 and below the highest quality available,
there is a 50% chance of finding 1D6 titles, except for magic and faerie
lore where the chance is only 35%.
## Lab Texts
The brokers at Harco take the job of locating and arranging trade of
lab texts on demand. They typically charge 1p per three magnitudes
for low magnitude spells (up to sixth magnitude) and 1p per two magnitudes
for higher magnitude spells.
The percentage chance of finding a given canon (unrestricted) spell within
1½ year is 90 less its level.
The availability roll is made the first time a spell is requested.
Note that certain spells, such as quaesitorial magic [HoH] should be considered restricted and available only through the relevant House or Mystery Cult.
