Petrarch's library

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Crumbling old manuscripts Old book bindings.jpg
Crumbling old manuscripts

The poet Petrarch arranged to leave his personal library to the city of Venice, [1] but it never arrived. The Venetian tradition that this was the founding of the Biblioteca Marciana is an anachronism; it was founded a century later.

Petrarch 14th-century Italian scholar and poet

Francesco Petrarca, commonly anglicized as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar and poet during the early Italian Renaissance who was one of the earliest humanists.

Venice Comune in Veneto, Italy

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islands are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers. In 2018, 260,897 people resided in the Comune di Venezia, of whom around 55,000 live in the historical city of Venice. Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE), which is considered a statistical metropolitan area, with a total population of 2.6 million.

Biblioteca Marciana Library in Venice, Italy

The Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana is a public library and Renaissance building in Venice, northern Italy. It is one of the earliest surviving public libraries and depositories for manuscript in Italy and holds one of the greatest collections of classical texts in the world. It is named after St. Mark, the patron saint of the city.

Contents

Petrarch's books

When Petrarch broke up his personal collections at Parma and Vaucluse he had formed the habit of traveling with large bales of manuscripts in a long cavalcade. In his middle age he became tired of carrying his large collection of manuscripts and books around in his extensive travels. He came to the conclusion that he would offer his collection of manuscripts to the Republic of Venice, on condition that it should be properly housed, and should never be sold or divided. This was in exchange for a permanent residence that he and his daughter's family could live in. [2] He decided he wanted to have his valuable collection of manuscripts and ancient books put into a public library on the concept of those of classical antiquity, like Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who built the Library of Alexandria. He called on his Venetian friend Grand Chancellor Benintendi de Ravagnani on this matter. Benintendi enthusiastically took on the idea of receiving Petrarch's books and manuscripts. He immediately prepared the Deliberation for the Great Council meeting in the beginning of September 1362 on this issue. It gave its approval for the donation of Petrarch's books to the church of Saint Mark (Marciana) as the protector of this precious gift, being the symbol of Venice.

Parma Comune in Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Parma is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. It is home to the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world. Parma is divided into two parts by the stream of the same name. The district on the far side of the river is Oltretorrente. Parma's Etruscan name was adapted by Romans to describe the round shield called Parma.

Vaucluse Department of France in Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur

Vaucluse is a department in Southeastern France, located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is named after the famous spring, the Fontaine de Vaucluse; the name Vaucluse itself derives from the Latin Vallis Clausa as the valley ends in a cliff face from which emanates a spring whose origin is so far in and so deep that it remains to be defined. The department's prefecture is Avignon; it had a population of 559,014 as of 2016.

Cavalcade procession on horseback, or a mass trail ride by a company of riders

A cavalcade is a procession or parade on horseback, or a mass trail ride by a company of riders. The focus of a cavalcade is participation rather than display. Often, the participants do not wear costumes or ride in formation. Often, a cavalcade re-enacts an important historical event and follows a long distance trail. A cavalcade may also be a pilgrimage.

Palazzo Molina Petrarch Venice house.jpg
Palazzo Molina

The agreement between Petrarch and the Republic of Venice was that none of the ancient books nor Petrarch's manuscripts were to be dispersed. They were to be preserved in a safe place in memory and honor of the great poet. In return for this Petrarch was to have the use of a worthy residence at public expense during his lifetime. Petrarch received the Palazzo Molina, known locally as Casa Molin delle due Torri. The memorandum agreement stipulated that Petrarch could keep his library until his death and did not say he had to live in Venice. Petrarch and his daughter Francesca with his son-in-law Francescuolo da Brossano moved there in 1362. It became their prime residence from 1362 to 1367 along with his personal library of books and manuscripts.

Palazzo Molina, Venice

Palazzo Molina or Palace of Two Towers or Palazzo Navager is a Gothic style palace located on the Riva degli Schiavoni #4145 in the sestiere of Castello, Venice, adjacent to the Ponte del Sepolcro, previously called the Bridge of Ca'Navager. It is best known for being the home, for about five years, of the poet Petrarch.

Francescuolo da Brossano was the son-in-law and heir of the Italian medieval poet Petrarch.

Petrarch's library was then transferred to the quayside of Riva degli Schiavoni. This collection had about two hundred codices. This is actually thought to be a much higher number of titles however, given that a codex often contained more than one work within it. The library included as much of early antiquities and early Christian culture as Petrarch had been able to select over ten years of assiduous studying, research in the monastic libraries, and in his journeys of discovery. All this fit perfectly to form the ideal library of a man of culture and integrated in with Petrarch's humanism.

Codex book with handwritten content

A codex, plural codices, is a book constructed of a number of sheets of paper, vellum, papyrus, or similar materials. The term is now usually only used of manuscript books, with hand-written contents, but describes the format that is now near-universal for printed books in the Western world. The book is usually bound by stacking the pages and fixing one edge to a spine, which may just be thicker paper, or with stiff boards, called a hardback, or in elaborate historical examples a treasure binding.

Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and evidence over acceptance of dogma or superstition. The meaning of the term humanism has fluctuated according to the successive intellectual movements which have identified with it. The term was coined by theologian Friedrich Niethammer at the beginning of the 19th century to refer to a system of education based on the study of classical literature. Generally, however, humanism refers to a perspective that affirms some notion of human freedom and progress. It views humans as solely responsible for the promotion and development of individuals and emphasizes a concern for man in relation to the world.

Sometime in the year 1367, however, Petrarch decided to leave Venice because the local scholars were not interested in his personal library. Venetian scholars were more interested in scientific knowledge rather than humanistic culture. It could also be because of Petrarch's habitual restlessness to move on to different ventures, or because of the plague then ravaging Venice, or because of the war that broke out between Venice and Padua at that time, or even because he held a canonry in Padua.

Culture Social behavior and norms found in society

Culture is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities and habits of the individuals in these groups.

Black Death Pandemic in Eurasia in the 1300s

The Black Death, also known as the Great Plague or the Plague, or less commonly the Black Plague, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia and peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351. The bacterium Yersinia pestis, which results in several forms of plague, is believed to have been the cause. The Black Death was the first major European outbreak of plague, and the second plague pandemic. The plague created a number of religious, social and economic upheavals which had profound effects on the course of European history.

When Petrarch left Venice in 1368, he settled in the territory of Padua, normally hostile to Venice; Petrarch's biographer concludes that the agreement with Venice was abrogated at this point. [3] Petrarch built himself a small house about ten miles outside of Arquà, in Paduan territory. A little vineyard with some olive trees were sufficient for his modest household needs at this time. While his health was poor he eased his mind by reading and prepared for the end. There he wrote to his beloved brother Gerard admiring his faithful religious duties. At this point in his life he seems to have given up his love for fine books along with other vanities of the world.

Padua Comune in Veneto, Italy

Padua is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 214,000. The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE) which has a population of c. 2,600,000.

Arquà Petrarca Comune in Veneto, Italy

Arquà Petrarca is a town and municipality (comune) in northeastern Italy, in the Veneto region, in the province of Padua. As of 2007 the estimated population of Arquà Petrarca was 1,835. The town is part of the club The most beautiful villages in Italy, and it has been awarded the Bandiera arancione award for excellence in tourism, hospitality and the environment.

On July 19, 1374 Petrarch died peacefully at Arqua alone in his library. [1] His few remaining manuscripts were dispersed. Some of them may be seen in Rome, Paris, London, or the Vatican. Those which he had given to the Republic of Venice in the "agreement" suffered a strange reverse of fortune. The collection was left neglected for centuries at the Palazzo Molina, Petrarch's past residence. Many of the manuscripts and ancient books had crumbled to powder and others had petrified because of the damp conditions of the storage facilities. Some were even glued into shapeless masses. [4] The antiquary Tomasini found some of Petrarch's books cast aside in a dark room behind the "Horses of Lysippos". The surviving ancient manuscripts were placed in the Libraria Vecchia and are now in Doge's Palace. Many of Petrarch's manuscripts and books found their way to Gian Galeazzo Visconti's personal library in Pavia, later moved to Paris. Many other of Petrarch's books and manuscripts found their way to libraries throughout mainland Europe, as well as the Bodleian Library and the Vatican Library. [5]

Catalogue

In Milan, the Biblioteca Ambrosiana holds a manuscript copy of Virgil illuminated by Simone Martini; it belonged to Petrarch. A very precise catalogue of Petrarch's library was reconstructed by the Italian philologist Giuseppe Billanovich.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Symonds, John Addington (1911). "Petrarch"  . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica . 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 313.
  2. ↑ The Age of Petrarch
  3. ↑ Morris Bishop, Petrarch and his World, 1963, p. 360.
  4. ↑ The Story of Old Books Archived 2007-08-23 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Gutenberg Books on Petrarch

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