His Historical Environment

From the Enciclopédie of Diderot and D'Alembert, "Frontispice de l'encyclopédie". In the centre, the Truth radiating with light; on the right, Reason and Philosophy tear the veil off her. Painting by Charles Nicolas Cochin engraved by Bonaventure-Louis Prévost, 1772 (from gallica.bnf.fr / BnF) In the eighteenth century the Enlightenment is affirming itself, a philosophical current based on rationalism and empiricism that harshly criticizes tradition and pushes the cultural and political renewal of the European states. It is in fact a time of great scientific development that will lead to many technical innovations and to a first industrial revolution. This progress takes place in its own way in every country, where it is led by the sovereigns themselves as in the Austria of Maria Theresa, and by the entrepreneurial and commercial bourgeoisie as in liberal England.

Marsili is a contemporary of philosophers such as Kant, Voltaire and Rousseau and scientists such as the naturalist Linnaeus and the chemist Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier. Let us not forget the publication of fundamental works for European culture such as the Dei delitti e delle pene by Cesare Beccaria (1764) and the Encyclopédie by Diderot and D'Alembert (1751–1773), present in the Marsili collection. In this period the Austrian composer and musician Mozart also lives and compose. These are also the years of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, one of the greatest German writers of all time, who visits the Botanical Garden of Padova during the prefecture of Marsili, although there is no news of a meeting between the two.

From the point of view of art, the discovery of the remains of Herculaneum and Pompeii stimulates reflection on Greek and Roman antiquity as a civil and artistic model and on the basis of thinkers such as Johann Joachim Winckelmann, artists such as Antonio Canova and printers such as Giovanni Battista Bodoni, the neoclassical style eradicates any baroque heaviness with its cleanliness and elegance.

The 18th century was not without dramatic accelerations in history, such as the American Revolution (1775–83) and the French Revolution (1789), which led to parliamentary, constitutional and independent republics that seemed to embody the ideals of the Enlightenment.

In his travels, Marsili finds himself at the centre of this rapidly evolving world, and even in the now weak and antiquated Republic of Venice these cultural and political movements arrive, which will lead to its dissolution just two years after his death (1797). Marsili therefore found himself in contact with various Italian and international figures, who on the one hand had an influence on his studies and knowledge, and on the other collaborated, through sales and gifts, in expanding his book collection.

Many elements can contribute to the reconstruction of the cultural and social context in which a character moves: obviously the documents concerning him that are dispersed among various collections of public and private archives; certainly the publications if – as in the case of the prefect Marsili – the protagonist of the biographical investigation was a scholar and a writer. However, even books can help because through marks of ownership and inserts, ex-libris, dedications and notes one can find small traces useful in reconstructing the world of friends and colleagues who moved around Giovanni Marsili and also of his contemporaries, people who he probably did not have the opportunity to know if not by reputation or casual acquaintance, but who were his contemporaries and who frequented the same places, possessing similar tastes and interests.