From inventories, notes written in the margins of various texts, and contemporary reports such as letters, we have information about the contents of several humanistic libraries that no longer exist as discrete collections. The earliest was that of Petrarch, whose library of Latin works included texts of Cicero and seneca, historical books, and poetry. Although not able to read Greek, Petrarch was given a copy of Homer’s Iliad as a gift, which he treasured. At a time when many people had only a few books (in manuscript, of course) stored in an armoire or stacked on a shelf, two of Petrarch’s residences had a separate room used as a study or library. The collector Niccolo Niccoli (1363-1437), who advised the Medici rulers of Florence on sources of classical manuscripts, had a renowned library and owned some 800 manuscripts that were eventually bequeathed to the Biblioteca Laurenziana in Florence. By the early 1400s, humanists and their agents were traveling in the East and to remote monasteries in Europe, purchasing and “borrowing” Greek manuscripts of classical authors.
Libraries served as important cultural centers in ancient Rome, and Renaissance monarchs, dukes, and other figures of authority were well aware of the ancient precedent for their own magnificent libraries. The papal library in the Holy See had the most impressive collection of any court library of the Renaissance (see later discussion). it is important to note that many of the court collections were accessible for readers and thus functioned as public libraries for the upper classes. From some of them books could even be borrowed, including manuscripts taken out for copies to be made. Renaissance court libraries served as models for princely collectors for more
Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe
Than two centuries. A few these collections are described in the following section.
World History
