As one would expect, after more than five hundred years, some of these remain familiar to scholars others, of course, have become more or less obscure. Vespasiano's description of its contents is especially interesting for its recitation of the authors and works that the Duke and his advisors felt should be included in his library. When Federico de Montefelto, Duke of Urbino set about building a library he hired Vespasiano to supply all of its books. These were first published in print as Vite di uomini illustri del secolo xv by Ludovico Frati (Bologna, 1892-93) they were translated by William George and Emily Waters as The Vespasiano Memoirs: Lives of illustrious Men of the XVth century by Vespasiano da Bisticci, Bookseller (1926). He retired in 1480 supposedly disappointed by the changes in the book trade brought about by printing.īy the 1440s Vespasiano owned a bookshop in Florence patronized by members of Florence's humanist community, through whom he was in contact with local scribes, illuminators and binders. Though he was not particularly well educated and had only a modest knowledge of Latin, he was a very shrewd businessman, and he left valuable memoirs informing us of some of his achievements. Having begun his career as a cartolaio, a stationer or dealer in paper and parchment, Vespasiano da Bisticci became the leading bookseller in Italy during the decades immediately before the invention of printing, and during the first years of its introduction in Italy.
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