Antique books
print this pageGiovanni Marsili was an attentive bibliophile and collector, assiduously searching for the precious specimen to be included in his collection; his travels abroad – especially his sojourns in Paris and London – gave him the opportunity to purchase important volumes, which had often belonged to prominent personalities of the transalpine culture from the Renaissance to the eighteenth century, but his interest in precious books continued throughout his life as is also documented in the letters to friends and acquaintances in which he asks for – and is himself asked to obtain – foreign editions, such as recently published best-sellers.
A print shop at the time of Marsili. Table from the Encyclopedie of Diderot and D'Alembert (Padova's Botanical Garden Library)
PAGE INDEX
FRANCE
Jean Bigot (1588–1645)
Ex-libris with the family crest on the front endleaf of Eryci Puteani Genialium sermonum liber, 1602 (from Biblioteca Universitaria, BOT.1.215)
Nephew of Étienne Bigot, lord of Fontaine, Sommesnie and Cleuvil, a famous collector of manuscripts and printed texts, he helped to create a library consisting of more than six thousand books, among which there were at least five hundred manuscripts; Louis Emery (1626–1689), one of his 19 children, a and conceived with Barbe Groulart – daughter in turn of the famous philologist Claude – continued to expand the number, bringing it to 40,000 items and leaving it as a legacy to his cousin Robert Bigot, Lord of Montville (1633-en–1692). A few years after the latter's death the library was bought by three Parisian booksellers, Jean Boudot, Charles Osmont and Gabriel Martin, who entrusted to Prosper Marchand the drafting of the catalogue: Bibliotheca Bigotiana. seu catalogus librorum, quos (dum viverent) summâ curâ & industriâ, ingentique sumptu congessêre Viri Clarissimi DD. uterque Joannes, Nicolaus, & Lud. Emericus Bigotii, Domini de Sommesnil & de Cleuville, alter Prætor, alii Senatores Rothomagenses, Parisiis, Jean Boudot, Charles Osmont et Gabriel Martin, 1706, which was followed by its sale.
René François de Sluse (1622–1685)
Engraving by L. Fines, 1666–1699 (from Rijksmuseum)
Among the many scientific works that Marsili collected, we also find the Problemata physica of Thomas Hobbes, published in London by Crooke in 1662; the book had belonged to one of the most important Belgian mathematicians of the seventeenth century, René François de Sluse who left his note of possession on the front endpaper. The motto in Greek – οιον το κενον "come il vuoto" – is certainly a reference to Aristotle and at the same time perhaps, also to the debate that opened in the middle of the century precisely on the existence of emptiness. While Aristotle denied it, as did Descartes, Torricelli demonstrated its existence, creating a real upheaval in the scientific world of the time, also for the theological consequences that this determined. Much more simply, however, an immortal verse of Dante could help to unveil its meaning: "fammi del tuo valor sì fatto vaso" (Par.I,14) and that is that I am empty, having space in my mind to welcome knowledge. Note of possession on the front endpaper of Problemata physica (from Biblioteca Universitaria, BOT.1.218)
Simon Boulduc (1652–1729)
A pharmacist and royal doctor of the French court, under the reign of Louis XIV and of his successor Louis XV, and the personal pharmacist of Elizabeth of Bohemia as well as of several noble families, in particular that of Saint-Simon. A demonstrator of Chemistry at the Roi Garden in Paris and a member of the Académie Royale des Sciences; the handwritten note reads: Ex Libris Simonis Boulduc | Pharmacop. (Ei) Paris. (Siensis) Handwritten mark of ownership on the front endpaper of the De atramentis cujuscunque generis by Pietro Maria Canepari, 1660 (from Biblioteca Universitaria, BOT.5.147)
François de Bremond (1713–1742)
Parisian, the son of a lawyer and destined for a legal career, he painted a portrait of Jean Jacques Dortous de Mairan in his Éloges des académiciens de l'Académie royale des sciences dans les années 1741, 1742, 1743 (of which Marsili had a copy with autograph dedication): interested in Oriental languages and medicine like his grandfather and an uncle, he is able to become secretary of the Royal Society of London. The volume, a miscellany on which is found the note: De l'inventaire de M. Bremont ce 17 avril 174[2 / ..]oqu avec M. Soye. super optica promota de Gregori achepl. ibi. includes different treatises on astronomical, geometric and physical subjects. Marsili also notes the purchase date and the price paid: "20 settembre 1754 a Parigi, per una L.(ivre) e 10 soldi".
Probable mark of ownership on the reverse of the front endpaper of Thomas Hobbes' Examinatio et emendatio mathematicae hodiernae, 1660 (from Biblioteca Universitaria, BOT.6.78)
On the recto of the rear endleaf, Marsili's handwritten note with the date, place and value of the purchase of the volume
ENGLAND
Francis Blomefield (1705–1752)
The son of the noble Henry and Alice Batch, he was born in Fersfield in 1705 and embarked on an ecclesiastical career; thanks to his conspicuous patrimony, he was able to devote himself to collecting manuscripts and volumes in view of his studies on the history of Norfolk which began in 1733, which he managed to publish only starting from 1739. After several editorial misadventures that led him to poverty, he died of smallpox in 1752 and among the assets put up for auction to pay off debts there was also his rich library, of which the sales catalogue remains: A catalogue of a valuable collection of books. Amongst which is, the library of the Reverend Mr. Blomefield, author of the History of Norwich and Norfolk, ... Consisting of several thousand volumes ... Which will be sold very cheap, ... on Tuesday July 28th, 1752, and continue selling 'till Michaelmas next, By William Chase, ... in the Cockey-Lane, Norwich, Norwich 1752. Tradition assigns him the discovery of the Paston-Letters preserved in the library of the last Earl of Yarmouth (see James Paston).
End paper and title page of the Q. Curtii Rufi Historiarum libri, accuratissime editi (from Biblioteca Universitaria, BOT.6.184)
Francis Blomfield's ex libris was engraved by W. H. Toms and bears a coat of arms with a shield in a frame surmounted by a heraldic tiger and a scroll with the motto "pro aris et focis" ("for God and for the Fatherland"). The shield is very complex with numerous partitions. A final inscription "Francis Blomefield Rector of Fersfeld in Norfolk 1736" identifies the owner, his role and date.
William Cecil (1520–1598)
William Cecil, Lord Burghley, 1520–1598. English Lord Treasurer, 1738 (from National Galleries Scotland, CC BY-NC)
Handwritten mark of ownership on the title page of Pauli Iouii Nouocomensis Vitae duodecim vicecomitum Mediolani principum, 1549 (from Biblioteca Universitaria, BOT.3.34)
A small treasure among the antiquarian purchases of the Prefect: a book that had already belonged to Lord Cecil from 1554, the secretary of State of Queen Elizabeth I; bibliophile and antiquarian, he amassed a considerable library (which included part of that which had already belonged to Robert Glover) which, as written in the last testament of 1597, was left to his son Thomas. The precious collection of printed matter and manuscripts, through successive transfers, finally came into the hands of Robert Bruce, Count Elgin, thanks to his wife Diana Gray (daughter of Anna Cecil), but was lost in 1687: only a sales catalogue remains, Bibliotheca illustris sive catalogus variorum librorum... bibliothecae viri cujusdam praenobilis... olim defuncti... quorum auctio habebitur Londini... Novemb. 21. 1687 For T. Bentley, and B. Walford, Londini, Willis, (undated), in which the volume is quoted with n. 182.
Richard Rawlinson (1690–1755)
Richard Rawlinson, William Smith da George Vertue, years 1770 (from National Portrait Gallery, CC BY-NC-ND)
Ex-libris on the front end paper of Petri Angelii Bargaei De priuatorum, publicorumque aedificiorum vrbis Romae…, 1589 (from Biblioteca Universitaria, BOT.1.129)
A religious man, fellow of the Royal Society (1690–1755), son of Sir Thomas, the Lord Mayor of the city of London; bibliophile and antiquarian like his brother Thomas, he collected a substantial library of printed texts and manuscripts, left to the Bodleian Library and marked by the ex-libris (88x83 mm), printed on paper bearing his coat of arms: a red shield framed by festoons and leaves surmounted by a helmet with sheldrake that holds a shell in its beak; inside the shield are two twin silver bands between three shells and a silver rising moon; on the upper external cartouche: RICHARDUS RAWLINSON LLD (legum Doctor) is Coll: (egio) Of (vi) IOAN: (nis) BAPT: (istae) OXON: (ae) & R. (egiae) S. (ocietatis) S. (Ocius); on the lower cartouche the motto: SUNT ANTIQUISSIMA QUAEQUE OPTIMA (Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 28).
Probably the volume Petri Angelii Bargaei De priuatorum, publicorumque aedificiorum vrbis Romae euersoribus epistola ad Petrum Vsimbardum... (BOT.2.201) was purchased by Marsili during his trip to London.
ITALY
Pompeo Caimo (1568–1631)
Portrait from Elogia virorum literis & sapientia illustrium ad viuum expressis imaginibus exornata... by Iacobi Philippi Tomasini, 1644 (from Biblioteca Universitaria)
Title page of the Libro di Mons. Paolo Giovio de' pesci romani (1560) with Caimo's handwritten mark of ownership (from Biblioteca Universitaria, BOT.6.98)
The member of a noble family of Lombard origin that emigrated to Friuli from Piacenza in the sixteenth century, Pompeo, the son of Giacomo and Chiara del Merlo (Udine 1568 – Tissano, Santa Maria la Longa 1631), was a doctor in Udine and then in Rome for Pope Gregory XV, a professor of theoretical medicine in Padova from 1624 to 1630; in his testament he left all the 2,500 volumes of his library as a gift to the Republic, excluding the manuscripts: the gift, enriched by a manuscript donated by his brother Eusebio, bishop of Cittanova (later passed into the Biblioteca Marciana, Marc. Lat.XI 47/4151), was received on 3 September 1636 and was assigned to the "Publica Libraria" of Padova, the current Biblioteca Universitaria; the volumes, however, which include books on medicine, but also on other subjects, were distributed in the warehouses together with the others according to a criterion of the affordability of the spaces, causing the loss of the fund's unitary physiognomy.
Ulisse Giuseppe Gozzadini (1650–1728)
Portrait of Cardinal Gozzadini (from Wikimedia Commons)
Ex-libris with the Cardinal's coat of arms and the serial number (Biblioteca Universitaria; image from Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, CC BY-NC-ND)
Among the numerous travel and exploration books owned by the Prefect, the Relation du voyage d'Adam Olearius en Moscouie, Tartarie, et Perse, augmentee ... d'vne seconde partie, contenant le voyage de Jean Albert de Mandelslo aux indes orientales... is conserved. It was printed in Paris in two volumes in 1666: however, the work originally belonged to Cardinal Ulisse Giuseppe Gozzadini (1650–1728) who left his ex-libris on both volumes. The Bishop of Imola from 1710 and professor of law at the University of Bologna from 1674 to 1728, he was the Consistorial Lawyer, Secretary of the Memorials and Briefs of the papal court, and a member of several academies (the Gelati, Arcadi, Traccia or Filosofica, and the Accademia Clementina to which he donated the plasters and reproductions of famous masterpieces of antiquity that he had collected in life).
Giacomo Filippo Tomasini (1595–1655)
Portrait of G.F. Tomasini from Le glorie de gli Incogniti o vero gli huomini illustri dell'Accademia de' signori Incogniti di Venetia, 1647 (from Wikimedia Commons)
Title page of Petrarcha redivivus (from Biblioteca Universitaria, BOT.4.80)
Also among the volumes belonging to the Prefect is the Petrarcha redivivus in the princeps of 1635, a biography among the significant works of the religious author Giacomo Filippo Tomasin, who subsequently became a bishop. The work is particularly interesting because it was a gift that Tomasini made to the Franciscan theologian Matija Ferkic, employed in 1629 as a professor of metaphysics at the University of Padova, and then, in 1631, promoted to the chair of theology; in fact, the note on the title page reads Insigni Theologo Mattheo Ferchio | Auctor.
Urbanus Papa VIII (1568–1644)
Splendid binding "at arms" – so defined because it carries in the centre of the tables the coat of arms of Urbano VIII (1568-en–1644), and is therefore posterior to 1623 when Maffeo Virginio Romolo Barberini was elected to the papal throne. Pope Barberini was an important commissioner of bindings who for the most part made use of the workshops of Soresini, Andreoli and the "enigmatic binder" (Quilici 1995, vol.I, p.17. Federici-Macchi 2014, p.131).
The volume also contains a mark of ownership of an 18th century English antiquarian, William Thomas, and it was – perhaps – in London that Marsili bought it.
Baccio Valori (1535–1606)
Bust of Baccio Valori, Palazzo Valori, Florence - Altoviti (from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA)
Title page of the first work included in the Marco Polo venetiano..., [1555?] (from Biblioteca Universitaria, BOT.6.170)
Before coming into the hands of Giovanni Marsili, the volume of the Milione belonged to Baccio Valori, but not to the politician and commander, but to the one instead nicknamed "the young" patron and man of letters, librarian of the Laurenziana for which he also created an inventory of the manuscripts and senator under Ferdinando I de' Medici.
The note traced in clear ink says:
Baccij Valorij κτήμα
Property of Baccio Valori.
HOLLAND
Johan van Broekhuizen (1649–1707)
Joan van Broekhuizen portrayed by Ludolf Bakhuizen, 1705 (from Wikimedia Commons)
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Joan van Broekhuizen (1649–1707), portrayed here by Ludolf Bakhuizen as a naval officer, was a Dutch poet and philologist: two editions of the Latin poets Propertius (1702) and Tibullus (1708) are his. The library of this scholar of antiquity, a refined connoisseur of the Latin language and a friend of Johann Georg Graeve (better known by the Latin name of Graevius), was sold on 7 May 1708 in Amsterdam and on p.100 of the sales catalogue, n.577 of the section Oratores & Epistolographi one can still see listed the volume that through various passages reached the hands of Marsili. The work contains the letters of the humanist and tutor of Francis I, Christophe de Longueil, who ended his days in Padova as a Franciscan friar and this perhaps explains Marsili's interest in this collection of letters together with which was published the De imitatione by Bartolomeo Ricci in which the author advises writers to combine art and nature if they want to create a masterpiece.
Title page of the Christophori Longolii Epistolarum libri 4 (1563), with handwritten mark of ownership (from Biblioteca Universitaria, BOT.6.202)