Can a Bonisagus place whatever they write under Cow & Calf, in the face of their Oath?
What would be a typical income for writing a Q11 Tractatus? What about other quality values? Does Cow & Calf influence this?
If you wanted a book copied and had a magus available who could do it with a spell or two, how much should this magus be expected to be paid?
Debated, but probably. Said the Bonisagus would still need to make available anything discovered, but posting it to Durenmar appears to be sufficient.
Covenants suggest 2 pawns as I recall.
If he could copy a book with a spell or 2?!?
That'd be quite valuable in itself. Probably far more than a copy of any single book you could think of - would you perhaps offer a suggestion for how this would be done?
That's for the sale of a single book. How many are likely to purchase said book, and how does C&C influence this?
I've seen a couple threads, but this one seems the most relevant.
It's not entirely clear what it means to "place whatever they write under Cow & Calf". Remember, the Cow and Calf ruling means that whoever owns a book also owns any copy made from it. Suppose a Bonisagus writes a book and keeps it in his library. Now suppose a Tytalus comes, and by stealth, makes a copy that he and a number of accomplices study "for free". The Bonisagus discovers the "theft". Should he ask for compensation for the "free study" that the Tytalus and his accomplices obtained, his request will most likely be denied - because of the Bonisagus Oath. On the other hand, said Bonisagus can certainly ask for the copy to be given back to him: it's his. At the same time, any time the original or any copies are not in use, the Bonisagus can't really deny anyone who'd study from them or make more copies - again because of the Bonisagus Oath. Etc.
Ah! This is a truly excellent (set of) questions. The answers really depend a lot on a number of things - first and foremost, what is the subject of the Tractatus? A Tractatus on Artes Liberales probably has a much larger audience (including a fairly large number of mundanes) than a Tractatus on Mastery of Circling Winds of Protection, but at the same time also a much larger potential writer base. Cow and Calf (or the absence thereof) certainly influences the value a lot.
It depends. If I needed the book copied quickly, as much as my need demanded. But if I could wait the times of mundane scribes, bookbinders and illuminators (one or more seasons), then I would not pay more than the wages of said mundanes and the costs of materials, i.e. a few pounds of silver at most.
So saga dependant any answer we could possibly give would be wrong.
My best suggestion though, would be that most covenants with sufficient resources would be interested.
I toyed around with a similar effect a while ago.
Sadly it falls apart when you realise that the caster would need to know the book by heart - meaning you'd essentially be limited to making copies of books you have memorized using the Memory Palace of the Sage (TMRE, p. 27) or similar effects.
TME (p. 98-103) also has some thoughts on the subject.
Huh? According to Covenants, Cow and Calf is a contractual oath that the recipient of a book will not release copies without permission. It's not legally binding upon all who come to possess the book; for example, if the Tytalus were to make an illegal copy of the book, then Cow and Calf doesn't apply. Or, say the Bonisagus sells a book under Cow and Calf to a Tremere and then a Tytalus takes it from the Tremere in Wizard's War. Tytalus does not have to abide by the oath.
Furthermore, the degree to which a Bonisagus has to release books is open to serious question. If the book goes to Durenmar, then Durenmar has the right to allow only one copy of Durenmar's copy to be given out under a highly restrictive C&C agreement. Otherwise, depending on the Tribunal's Peripheral Code, a Bonisagus could indeed refuse to allow his book to be copied and instruct anyone who wants to study it to come to his covenant to do so. And if he sells it under Cow and Calf, the recipient cannot resell or copy it because contract.
Wouldn't having the book you're copying in your hand supplant the need for magical memories of such? Even then, it's not exactly that difficult to learn/develop a non-ritual version that only has Sun duration instead of Momentary; not that I see the need for it.
Also, I'm not seeing where Tales of Mythic Europe covers this subject.
Transforming Mythic Europe.
The two books have the same initials.