The origins and evolution of the Magliabechiana Library

Antonio Magliabechi in 17th and 18th century Florence

A series of favourable circumstances in the 17th century led to the development in Florence – a city with a population of approximately 75,000, similar to Bologna and Genoa – of a considerable number of library collections held by private entities and religious organisations, as well as, naturally, the House of Medici, which ruled the Grand Duchy.
This set the stage for the significant efforts of Antonio Magliabechi (DBI v. 67) who, for his role as librarian for Princes Francesco Maria and Cardinal Leopoldo, and his personal interest in his own collection (composed of 30,000 books), was a central figure in an extensive network of relationships with scholars and booksellers throughout Europe, allowing him, and later the city (to which he bequeathed his books), to line the shelves of his library with a significant portion of European publications from the 17th and 18th centuries. A study of his correspondence sheds light not only on the history of libraries in Florence, but also those throughout mainland Italy.

Antonio Magliabechi (Mirto 1994) himself was a source of precise information on private Florentine libraries via an autobiography held in Ms Magliabechiano Cl. X, 63, in which he lists 28 library collections, beginning with those of the Grand Duke Cosimo III and Prince Cardinal Leopoldo (which were accompanied by the Mediceo Laurenziana library), and followed by those of leading Florentine families and figures (for example Dati, Doni, Riccardi, Panciatichi, Guadagni, Capponi), which now form part of the collections held in the city’s public libraries. It is important to also mention the notable Gaddi and Strozzi collections, which were not included in the list and which – for the most part – passed to the Magliabechiana library after Magliabechi’s death.

Our overview of Florentine libraries would not be complete without also mentioning the extremely important ecclesiastic libraries (such as the library of the chapter of Santa Maria del Fiore) and those of convents and monasteries (among many others, of the Benedictines of Badia Fiorentina, the Camaldolese of Santa Maria degli Angeli, the Friars Minor Conventual of Santa Croce, the Dominicans of San Marco and Santa Maria Novella, the Augustinians of Santo Spirito, the Friars Minor of Ognissanti and San Salvatore al Monte, and the Theatines of San Michele and Gaetano), which allowed the city to offer extensive sources of study and research.

Another important element in the history of the city’s library collections was the resurgence of scholarly research in the second half of the 17th century, driven mainly by the Jesuit Bollandists (Battistini 1942-1943) and the Benedictine Maurists of San-Germain-de-Prés (Mabillon, Germane, Mountfaucon), as well as by the German librarian and philosopher Leibniz, who saw Florence, and the Grand Duchy in general, as an essential destination in his travels in search of documentation. Magliabechi was, in fact, a fundamental point of reference for many scholars from beyond the Alps, not only for his extensive knowledge of books but also for his connections and relationships with scholars and booksellers throughout Italy and Europe, which led to the creation in Florence of an information network that influenced both his own library collection and those of the city as a whole. The library reflects these relationships, and the exchange of information was often accompanied by an exchange of sometimes precious and unique books that continue to be part of our institute’s heritage. An exploration of Magliabechi’s correspondence (held at the National Library) demonstrates the wide-ranging interests of those who wrote to him, as well as the extent of the library information exchanged, as is the case with Lodovico Muratori, whose letters are a precious source of advice and recommendations (Dupront 1976; Totaro 1993). It is therefore clear that the “bibliographic” structure of the collection is due not only to the efforts and personal contacts of Magliabechi himself, but also to the constant and appropriate use of information, the commercial book trade, and the network of acquisitions and exchanges.
On Magliabechi’s death, his collection went to the city, an event to be viewed as part of the wider history of the founding of Italian libraries between the second half of the 1600s and the beginning of the century that followed, a period so well known that it needs no repeating here. What is important to note is that the Magliabechiana library, like the Marucelliana – founded a few years later – was set up “for the poor”, referring in this case to a group of scholars counted as among the “shameful” poor who needed access not only to the books they personally owned through inheritance or for worship, profession or knowledge, but also to other more extensive collections and to the rarer and more costly books held in public libraries. This attention to the poor, in line with the Christian virtue of benevolence, undoubtedly ran parallel to the changes that took place between the 17th and 18th centuries in terms of reading, ownership of cultural materials and the resurgence of academies and study (Chapron 2009¹).

The task of Magliabechi’s successors was, and is, that of bringing order to the legendary “chaos” – which he alone was able to navigate – through the lengthy cataloguing of the treasures that he had collected, rendering them accessible to the general community.

Bibliography

• Battistini 1942-1943
  Mario Battistini, Antonio Magliabechi e la sua collaborazione all’Opera Bollandiana. Nel terzo centenario degli Acta sanctorum, Wetteren, De Meester, 1942-1943.
• Chapron 2009¹
  Emmanuelle Chapron, “Ad utilità pubblica”. Politique des bibliothèques  et pratique du livre à Florence au  XVIII^e siècle, Genève, Librairie Droz, 2009.
• DBI
  Dizionario biografico degli italiani, Roma, Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 1960-
• Dupront 1976
  Alphonse Dupront, L. A. Muratori et la société européenne des pré-lumières, Firenze, Olschki, 1976.
• Mirto 1994
  Alfonso Mirto,  Stampatori, editori, librai nella seconda metà del seicento. Parte seconda, i grandi fornitori di Antonio Magliabechi e della corte medicea, Firenze, Centro editoriale toscano, 1994.
• Totaro 1993
  Giuseppina Totaro, Antonio Magliabechi e i libri, in Bibliothecae selectae, da Cusano a Leopardi.. Firenze, Olschki, 1993, pp. 550-558

The founding of the Magliabechiana Library

The origins of what is now the National Central Library of Florence date as far back as 26 May 1714 when the scholar and bibliomane, as well as librarian for the House of Medici, Antonio Magliabechi (DBI v. 67), declared from his deathbed to the notary Giovanni Evangelista Miccinesi his desire to leave his belongings, which consisted mainly of an exceptional collection of approximately 30,000 books, to Florence’s poor, with the purpose of founding “a public library for the universal benefit of the city” (the will was published by Mannelli Goggioli 2000). Magliabechi nominated the executors of his will, his friend and confidant Anton Francesco Marmi (DBI v. 70), and his second cousin Lorenzo Comparini, a doctor of law, to be the first librarians. An institute of this nature, freely accessible to all and sufficiently general in nature to serve a wide range of readers, had not yet been established in Florence; indeed, in these terms, the overall situation in the Grand Duchy at the beginning of the 18th century was considerably behind in comparison to other areas of Italy. The Florentine librarian had dedicated all his time and money, living a life of misery to satisfy his only desire: to accumulate and surround himself with books, setting himself apart from his scholarly peers with his boundless bibliographic knowledge. With no heirs to whom he could leave his beloved collection, he chose to bow to considerable pressure and bequeath it to the city, yet despite the detailed instructions set out in his will, many years passed before the library finally opened. The process – rendered complex by the economic and legal aspects of transforming a private collection into a public library – reached a turning point with the measures issued by the Grand Duke Gian Gastone: on Christmas Day 1736, the last of the Medicis passed three laws concerning the Magliabechiana library that proved to be fundamental for the future and the public nature of the institute, and that deserve to be remembered, along with Magliabechi’s will, as the cornerstones of the Florentine library. The first order stated that the Supreme Magistrate, one of the most important institutional bodies, should take possession of Antonio Magliabechi’s library on behalf of the people of Florence, together with the books belonging to Anton Francesco Marmi, who had stated in his will that these go to the Magliabechiana library on the condition that the latter was free of religious rule, thus laying the foundations for the secular nature of the institute. The order also saw the physician and bibliographer Antonio Cocchi (DBI v. 26; Antonio Cocchi 2008) assigned the task of drawing up an inventory of all the books in the library, which were to be marked with the Seal of Florence, and the city’s printers were required to give the library a copy of whatever they printed, with a view to expanding the collection. The second order appointed the marquis Carlo Rinuccini, one of the most influential figures in the Medici Court, as superintendent, while the third granted Lorenzo Comparini the title of librarian. The support granted by the Grand Duke was not only legal in nature, but also covered economic aspects: donating the space necessary for the library, writing off debts with the customs office, which he owned, and building an access stairway from the loggia of the Uffizi. On 5 January 1737, with a stately ceremony and in the presence of a notary, the chancellor of the Supreme Magistrate took possession of the library and consigned it to the librarian, who was charged with its safekeeping. This was a significant step, aimed at underscoring the fact that the institute was the property of the community, and that the sovereign had intervened in the handling of Magliabechi’s estate for this very purpose. These actions actually went against the wishes of the testator: acceptance of the bequest of Marmi, which was conditional to the library being under secular management, contravened the instructions left by Magliabechi, who wanted the Dominicans to be the future custodians of his library. This was an intentional move, as can be seen from the following excerpt from the 1739 report to the Council of Regency from the minister Giulio Rucellai, the secretary of the Ecclesiastical Authority: “Following the death of Cav. Marmi, it was necessary for the Most Serene Grand Duke to make an exception to the will of Magliabechi for the purpose of guaranteeing the existence of the library and safeguarding the rights of the general public. However, in order to do so without creating friction with the clergy, it was considered necessary for His Royal Highness to make a personal financial contribution and donate items of varying nature, enhancing the collection over time… to this end, the cited orders included measures requiring a copy of every book printed in Florence to be sent to the public library, following the example set by Venice and other places” (BNCF, Arch. Magl. F. VIII, II, cc. 10r-29r). The young minister, to whom Marmi had previously written, pleading with him to help the Magliabechiana library and suggesting the measures that were later adopted by the Grand Duke, was probably the architect of the orders passed by Gian Gastone and of the strategy that brought them into being, thus depriving the clergy of command of what was to become the city’s most important cultural institution. The Dominicans demanded, in vain, to be granted control of the library following the death of Comparini. In 1739, Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti (Arrigoni 1987), a young physician and naturalist, was appointed librarian, and he remained at the helm of the institute for the following 46 years, which was to be called the Public Library (and not the Magliabechiana Library, a name that continued, however, to be regularly used), and which adopted as its stamp the iris, the symbol of Florence, accompanied by the words “Publicae Florentinae Bibliotecae”. It took 10 years to set up and catalogue the library, which opened on 3 January 1747 in a building adjoining the Uffizi that was previously home to a comedy theatre, adapted according to designs by Giovan Battista Foggini and decorated with frescoes by Rinaldo Botti (Mannelli Goggioli 2001). The books were organised in accordance with a classification scheme created by Cocchi, who drew inspiration from the English philosopher John Locke (Mannelli Goggioli 1996 and 2008); the catalogues were drawn up by Targioni Tozzetti. It was a significant project, beginning in 1737 and ending in 1747, which focused entirely on the classification criteria requested by Cocchi: the 12 volumes of the catalogue of printed materials were organised by category (BNCF, Cataloghi antichi, str. 1-12, ex. Magl. X.20), accompanied by brief alphabetical indices organised by author (ibidem, str. 18-19), and the 4 volumes of manuscripts by category (ibidem, str. 13-16, ex. Magl. X.21); the latter was substituted for library use by another catalogue complied by Targioni, comprising eleven volumes, organised by category as before (BNCF, Sala mss, Cataloghi 45). A catalogue of incunables (Innocenti 1984, no. 103) was later drawn up, at the end of the 18th century, again by classification, accompanied by an alphabetic index (Innocenti 1984, no. 103). The physical order of the books was also based on category, with subdivision by format, for obvious reasons related to optimising space. A card on the spine showed the category in Roman numerals, the first letters of the author’s surname and lower down, an Arabic number indicating the shelf on which the book was placed according to format (events, documents and catalogues in Mannelli Goggioli 2000).
While the antique section of the library collection could be described as impressive, based as it was on the Magliabechi and Marmi collections, its successive development appeared limited. After all, the Magliabechiana collection began modestly, and with the scarcity of the initial inheritance from Magliabechi, the institute relied on sovereign support. After the generosity of Gian Gastone, the Lorraine dynasty, from Francis I onwards – including the fundamental contribution of the printing law of 1743 extending the order for deposit with the public library (Landi 2000) to the entire Grand Duchy – helped keep it going, although policies were adopted with a view to economy. Rather than providing the library with funds to acquire new books, the collection was expanded through the donation or acquisition of private collections both large and small, as well as the collections gained from the suppression of monasteries (Mannelli Goggioli 2009). In these terms, the generosity of the Lorraines was focused on the Magliabechiana library, thus ensuring and enhancing its public role.

Bibliography

• Antonio Cocchi  2008
  Antonio Cocchi mugellano (1695-1758). Scienza, deontologia, cultura. Atti del Congresso, Borgo San Lorenzo, 10-11 ottobre 2008, a cura di Donatella Lippi e Andrea A. Conti, Firenze, Centro stampa del Consiglio regionale della Toscana, 2008.
• Arrigoni 1987
  Tiziano Arrigoni, Uno scienziato nella Toscana del Settecento: Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti, Firenze, Gonnelli, 1987.
• DBI
  Dizionario biografico degli italiani, Roma, Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 1960-
• Innocenti 1984
  Piero Innocenti, Stratigrafia dei cataloghi: procedure di de stratificazione del maggior nucleo italiano di manoscritti e libri antichi, in «Il bosco e gli alberi», I, Firenze, Giunta regionale toscana, La Nuova Italia, 1984, pp. 295-523.
• Landi   2000
  Sandro Landi, Il governo delle opinioni, Bologna, Il mulino, 2000.
• Mannelli Goggioli  1996
  Maria Mannelli Goggioli, Uno scienziato per ordinare la libreria del Magliabechi: Antonio Cocchi e la classificazione della Magliabechiana. Dalla teoria all’organizzazione della biblioteca, «Culture del testo», 1996, n. 6, settembre-dicembre,  pp. 43-93.
• Mannelli Goggioli  2000
  Maria Mannelli Goggioli, La Biblioteca Magliabechiana. Libri, uomini, idee per la prima biblioteca pubblica a Firenze, Firenze Olschki, 2000.
• Mannelli Goggioli  2001
  Maria Mannelli Goggioli, Il Salone Magliabechiano agli Uffizi, antica sede della Biblioteca nazionale centrale di Firenze, in Cesare Bazzani e la Biblioteca nazionale centrale di Firenze (1873-1939): atti delle giornate di studio, Firenze, Tribuna Dantesca della Biblioteca nazionale centrale, 20-21 novembre 1997: nuovi studi e documenti, a cura di Ferruccio Canali e Virgilio Galati, Firenze, BT, 2001, pp. 85-94.
• Mannelli Goggioli  2008
  Maria Mannelli Goggioli, Antonio Cocchi e la classificazione della Biblioteca Magliabechiana: da Pitagora a Locke, in Antonio Cocchi mugellano (1695-1758). Scienza, deontologia, cultura. Atti del Congresso, Borgo San Lorenzo, 10-11 ottobre 2008, a cura di Donatella Lippi e Andrea A. Conti, Firenze, Centro stampa del Consiglio regionale della Toscana, 2008, pp. 23-29.
• Mannelli Goggioli  2009
  Maria Mannelli Goggioli, Biblioteche pubbliche fiorentine nel Settecento. Con uno sguardo alla situazione nel Granducato, « Symbolae antiquariae»,  2, 2009, pp. 61-82.

The Mediceo Palatina Lotaringia Library

One of the aspects that make the collections of the National Library so significant in terms of conservation and representation of written cultural heritage is the tapestry of events that, over the centuries, have led to their creation – as part of a political and social fabric that rendered them possible – and to the development of important libraries of manuscripts and, later, printed books. Indeed, in addition to the original Magliabechiana public library, the National Central Library of Florence is also home to a series of collections (of both public and private origin, with the Palatina Library and collections resulting from the suppression of monasteries on the one hand, and private collections from the city’s nobility, complete with their many particular characteristics, on the other) whose coming together has led to the creation of the National Library.
The first Palatina Library is an example of this. Following the establishment of the Laurenziana Library, over the years the Medici answered to the cultural and educational needs of the court, continuing to gather manuscripts and books, which were in turn supplemented by the inheritance from Cardinal Leopoldo, custodian of literature and the sciences and founder of the Cimento Academy (whose library was absorbed by the Magliabechiana Library at the end of the Lorraine dynasty) and by the library of the Grand Duke Cosimo III, who had charged Antonio Magliabechi with its organisation and care.

Driven by a truly insatiable desire to accumulate books, these figures, albeit with differing means and goals, provided for the parallel enhancement of the two libraries, each complementing the other.

Before Magliabechi’s death, the Palatina (in other words, the palace library) was supplemented with the collections of Cardinal Francesco Maria and Prince Ferdinando, who worked to render it ever more worthy of the appreciation of the great scholar Bernard de Montfaucon, who visited the library during his period in Florance. With the end of the Medici dynasty and the death of Magliabechi, the library – together with the rest of the Florentine estate – was passed to the Lorraine dynasty, the new Grand Dukes of Tuscany, in accordance with the instructions of the Electress Palatine, the last remaining member of the Medici family.

Despite having almost never resided in the Grand Duchy, Francesco Stefano maintained the interest that the previous Grand Dukes had for the cultural heritage of the city. He began by bringing his own personal collection to Florence, and he also provided ongoing support for the Magliabechiana and Marucelliana Libraries, which opened to the public in 1747 and 1752, respectively. Shortly before his death in 1765, he made his personal library accessible to the public by granting admission to Palazzo Pitti. The operation, however, received a lukewarm reception from the people of Florence who, for various reasons, did not regularly use the palace library. As a result of this, and also due to a lack of space in the wing of the palace that was home to the library and his designated living quarters, Pietro Leopoldo, Francesco Stefano’s son and heir, decided in 1771 to combine the Mediceo Palatina Lotaringia Library with the Magliabechiana Library. A number of manuscripts, 568 to be precise, went to the Laurenziana Library, 139 to the Department of Reforms, and 136 to the Academy of the Philosophy of Science, while 98 remained with the Grand Duke.

The fact that the operation needed to be completed quickly in order to free the occupied space is confirmed in a letter from the director of the Department of Finance, Angelo Tavanti, to the librarian of the Magliabechiana Library Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti. It contained an invitation to clear “the room in Palazzo Pitti in all haste” without any cataloguing of its contents. At the same time, other documents show the scarcity of the Magliabechiana Library’s finances and available space, even though a number of new rooms had been added to the library for the purpose of housing the new collection – “the royal books” -, five rooms arranged in a row, close to the collections of manuscripts and particularly valuable printed books. Targioni used the little money available to him to accommodate the new material as well as possible, repositioning it in such a manner as to recover the old order, and therefore the old catalogue complied by the assistant librarian of the Palatina Gaspare Menabuoni, as best he could. With the help of his assistant Ferdinando Fossi, the librarian began a rapid study of the collection to identify any duplicates, making sure to conserve those of particular worth, either for the edition itself, the binding or the decoration. It is clear that Targioni had already recognised the worth of multiple copies that is now widely accepted in the contemporary library sector: “understanding how important it is for scholars to find the most copies possible of various editions in a library…”. In reality, according to the instructions issued by the Grand Duke, he was required to pass the majority of additional copies to the library of the university of Pisa or render them available for sale, transferring ownership by stamping them MD (Magliabechiani Doubles), one of the channels through which the current National Library has acquired its materials. The first books to reach the Uffizi were the 4,725 printed works from the Lotaringia Library, followed by the printed works and the 588 manuscripts from the Palatina Medicea library, for a total of 11,942 printed works and 588 manuscripts. Lastly, Targioni requested and received a portrait of Pietro Leopoldo, which was positioned in the first room, “with an inscription below mentioning the generosity he showed to scholars” (Fava 1935¹; Rotondi 1971; Mannelli Goggioli 1995).

One of the benefits granted by the Grand Duke was revoked in 1783, when the Magliabechiana Library was required to hand over the oldest Palatini manuscripts and the famous Squarcialupi musical codex to the Laurenziana Library, as can be seen in the manuscript catalogue held in the tenth class of the Magliabechiana collection, in which the codices destined for the Laurenziana are marked with the letter L. In exchange, the library received a considerable number of printed works from the Laurenziana library, including many incunables and works from the 1500s, which were of significance both in terms of edition and for their binding.

Bibliografia

• Fava 1935¹
• Domenico Fava, Due biblioteche auliche nella Nazionale centrale di Firenze, «Accademie e biblioteche d’Italia», 9, 1935, pp. 448-474.
• Mannelli Goggioli 1995Maria Mannelli Goggioli, La Biblioteca Palatina mediceo lotaringia ed il suo catalogo, «Culture del testo», I , 1995, 3, pp. 135-159.
• Rotondi 1971Clementina Rotondi, L’unione della Biblioteca medicea-palatina-lotaringica alla Magliabechiana (1771), <<Almanacco dei bibliotecari italiani>>, 1971, pp.126-132.

The suppression of monasteries

An overview of the various waves of suppression of monastic libraries, which took place in Tuscany between the 18th and 19th centuries, illustrates the contribution that the appropriated material has made to the complex stratification of the collections of antique manuscripts and printed books held by the BNCF.

The suppression of religious organisations can be considered as one of the main methods employed by the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo in his complex ecclesiastical policies, which were aimed at limiting the interference of the Church in affairs of the State and reducing the ranks of the regular clergy, who answered to Rome, in favour of secular clergy. The programme adopted by Pietro Leopoldo, presented in reports on the Tuscan government (1786), “led to the suppression of monasteries considered to have no social purpose” (Biagianti 1985) with a view to bolstering the religious and social ministry of parish priests. The first measure was the suppression of the Jesuits, which took place in Tuscany with the Grand Ducal decree of 28 August 1773, issued in the wake of the Papal bull from Pope Clement XIV, dated 21 July 1773. The convent of San Giovannino was entrusted to the Piarists, who brought their own library with them, and as a result, the Jesuits’ books were put up for sale, but not before the librarians of the Magliabechiana were allowed to take anything they considered to be of use to the institute. The manuscripts from the Jesuit library are now divided between the categories of the Magliabechiana library and the National Collection, while the printed books are all part of the Magliabechiana Collection. The suppressions ordered by Pietro Leopoldo continued with a view to rationalising the monastic network by eliminating the smaller communities and directing members towards more strict discipline and socially beneficial duties. Although Tuscany had no general guidelines for the distribution of materials originating from convent libraries, requests from figures such as the librarian Ferdinando Fossi (DBI v. 49) saw the Magliabechiana Library receive a considerable number of works from the suppression of convents including the Theatines of Saints Michele and Gaetano (1785), in addition to others from throughout the Grand Duchy.

The annexation of Tuscany to the Napoleonic empire, which took place on 10 December 1807, and the consequential organisation of the territory into 3 departments (that of the Arno, with Florence as the capital, the Ombrone, with Siena as the capital, and the Mediterranean, with Livorno as the capital) also marked a turning point in policies regarding religious orders. Following an intermediary phase in which the new government surveyed the extent of the assets and income of religious organisations, the Imperial Decree of 24 March 1808, with the orders passed on 16 and 29 April 1808, formalised the suppression of abbeys, convents and monasteries inhabited by monks and nuns. The assets of both suppressed and provisionally maintained convents were incorporated by the State and were then entrusted to the various departments. The need to compare the inventories drawn up a few months prior with the actual entity of the assets held by each convent led to the establishing of a Commission charged with selecting and recording the most precious items, before they were transported to the depository of the convent of San Jacopo Oltr’Arno, where all the books were gathered. This commission was established with a decree passed by the Council of Tuscany on 6 October 1808, which represented the first measure in Tuscany to recognise protection for written heritage similar to that for art collections. The president of the Commission, Tommaso Puccini, who previously served as secretary of the Academy of Fine Arts and director of the Royal Galleries, ordered the drawing up of a catalogue of the books and manuscripts received from religious institutes and assigned to the various libraries in Florence, including the Magliabechiana. The books chosen were marked with the stamp of the Commission, which depicted a white eagle on a black background with a circular crown and the words “Conservation of artistic and scientific items”. Later (1810-1812), an inventory was drawn up of more than twenty-two thousand books received from convent libraries and deposited with the library of the convent of St. Mark’s. In this case, the books were not marked with the stamp of the commission: instead, the front guard showed the origin of the item together with the relative progressive inventory number recorded in the General Index, which is now held at the Library of the Academy of Fine Arts. Lastly, in the wake of the Conservative Order, the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando III established the restoration of a number of religious orders and congregations, with the partial return of books of religious interest. The manuscripts obtained from the suppressions ordered by Leopold were included in the various categories of the Magliabechiana collection and the so-called National Collection, while the manuscripts confiscated in the wake of the French suppressions became the cornerstone of the Suppressed Convent Collection (Rossi 1998 and 2000).

The Unification of Italy saw the passing of 2 laws (no. 3036 of 7 July 1866 and no. 3848 of 15 August 1867) marking the derecognition by the State of all religious orders, with their collections of books and manuscripts consequently assigned for public use. With this move, the collections of manuscripts appropriated by the library were submitted to the Suppressed Convent Collection for cataloguing. The considerable quantity of printed books from the convent of San Filippo Neri became the basis of the Filippini Collection.

Bibliography

The union with the Palatina Library

La Biblioteca dei Lorena che fu unita alla Magliabechiana col Regio Decreto del 22 dicembre 1861, a firma di Francesco De Sanctis, consisteva in 86.761 volumi, 15.748 opuscoli e 3.165 manoscritti (FAVA 1935¹ e 1939); se consideriamo che meno di un secolo prima, nel 1771, la reggia si era svuotata quasi completamente di libri, ceduti alla Magliabechiana ed ad altri istituti toscani da Pietro Leopoldo, si può rimaner sorpresi per la rapida formazione di una così consistente raccolta.

Ma se ai meri numeri aggiungiamo la considerazione che la biblioteca di Palazzo Pitti era veramente strepitosa per i tesori che conteneva (la raccolta Poggiali di testi di lingua serviti per la redazione del Vocabolario della Crusca, i manoscritti galileiani e dell’Accademia del Cimento, grandi corpi di archeologia e di storia antica, gli autografi collezionati dalla famiglia Gonnelli…) non possiamo che rimaner ammirati e grati alla storia se questo patrimonio è stato reso pubblico. Certo, questa seconda cessione alla Magliabechiana della biblioteca granducale si svolse senza il consenso del sovrano, anzi ne seguì un lungo contenzioso con lo Stato italiano (ROTONDI 1967); ma rimane il fatto che la Libreria pubblica fiorentina è stata per due volte debitrice verso i Lorena dei suoi più significativi accrescimenti. Proprio in virtù di questa seconda unione non si poteva più chiamare “solo” Magliabechiana: con l’improvvisa dotazione che concludeva in bellezza il suo secolare destino di collettore di biblioteche piccole e grandi, private e conventuali, l’istituto con il suo aumentato patrimonio veniva a rappresentare la cultura italiana in una completezza e preziosità che non aveva riscontro in nessun’altra biblioteca del Paese, tanto da meritare la denominazione di Biblioteca della Nazione appena unita.

Possiamo qui ripercorrere solo brevemente le vicende che hanno portato alla formazione della seconda Palatina. Dopo il trasferimento alla Magliabechiana della biblioteca che aveva trovato a palazzo Pitti – non ritenendola, correttamente, di sua proprietà e destinandola ad uso pubblico – , Pietro Leopoldo provvide subito alla costituzione di una sua raccolta privata, ad uso proprio, della consorte Maria Luisa e della numerosa prole; rimane testimonianza di questo primo nucleo nel catalogo a stampa del 1771 (CATALOGUE 1771), di cui possiediamo la copia appartenuta al granduca stesso, preziosa per le note di pugno del sovrano e del segretario (CHIMIRRI 1999, PASTA 2003). E’ ragionevole supporre che la biblioteca di famiglia sia cresciuta nel venticinquennio in cui Pietro Leopoldo regnò in Toscana ma non abbiamo notizie precise sull’entità della raccolta che il figlio Ferdinando ereditò assieme al Granducato quando il padre nel 1790 fu chiamato a Vienna sul trono imperiale. Ai timbri di possesso dei genitori (“PL” e “ML”) il nuovo granduca aggiunse il proprio monogramma, “FAGDT”, la cui interpretazione più probabile risulta” Ferdinando [d’] Austria Gran Duca [di] Toscana” (MANNELLI GOGGIOLI 1995). Se il padre sembra aver costituito una raccolta propedeutica al governo e all’educazione dei figli, Ferdinando dette ben presto prova, piuttosto, di una propensione agli studi e al collezionismo librario per suo diletto personale che lo portò a raccogliere una biblioteca notevole che volle con sé anche nell’esilio (sembra che i francesi gliela abbiamo spedita a Wurzburg, su sua richiesta) e che ebbe modo di ampliare durante il suo peregrinare tra Germania e Francia, tanto che al suo ritorno in Toscana nel 1814 la biblioteca ricollocata a Pitti era ormai notevole. Coltivò a Firenze con maggior slancio la sua passione: sarebbe troppo lungo – ed è stato fatto da altri più volte (GENTILE 1889, FAVA 1935¹ e 1939) – fare l’elenco completo dei tesori che con lungimiranza e consistente dispendio di denari seppe accaparrarsi: citiamo solo la collezione Elzeviriana, la raccolta completa dei suoi prediletti autori classici, le inestimabili raccolte private che comprando salvò da una sicura dispersione. Sia detto qui per inciso che anche i precedenti granduchi lorenesi avevano fatto simili acquisti ma al preciso scopo di farne dono alla Magliabechiana e sollevarla in questo modo dalle ristrettezze in cui versava, mentre il XIX secolo segnò un periodo di grande decadenza per la biblioteca pubblica, non in grado di far fronte ad adeguati acquisti e aggiornamenti.

Anche Leopoldo II seguì le orme del padre quanto a febbre del collezionismo, pur lasciandone ad altri la cura, servendosi di valenti bibliotecari, in particolare di Giuseppe Molini (DBI, v. 75 ), a cui si devono alcuni degli acquisti più preziosi nelle aste di tutt’Europa. Sono entrate in questo periodo le splendide collezioni di viaggi e scienze naturali, archeologia e storia antica, oltre a rarità bibliografiche di testi italiani.

Tra i successivi bibliotecari dobbiamo ricordare Francesco Palermo, non solo perché sotto di lui furono acquistati la raccolta scientifica dei Targioni Tozzetti, gli autografi raccolti dalla famiglia Gonnelli, i manoscritti De Sinner con gli studi del Leopardi, i codici panciatichiani, ma anche perché dette un nuovo ordinamento ai libri della Palatina, che fino ad allora erano divisi e collocati per materie, com’era costume nelle biblioteche sei-settecentesche, con cataloghi e collocazioni che rispecchiavano questo sistema (ROSSI 1996). Palermo attribuì una nuova segnatura ai volumi, indicando semplicemente il luogo dove si trovavano, cioè la stanza, lo scaffale, il palchetto e il libro, con una simbologia fatta di lettere e numeri; la nuova collocazione fu apposta nel catalogo già esistente, accanto alla precedente per classi. Questa è la segnatura ancora in uso per i libri a stampa della Palatina, nonostante che dopo il loro trasporto nella Magliabechiana non vi sia più alcuna corrispondenza con il luogo fisico in cui si trovano. Il bibliotecario palatino però non rinunciò ad elaborare delle sue teorie classificatorie che illustrò dandole alle stampe (PALERMO 1854) ed iniziò inoltre a compilare il catalogo dei manoscritti (PALERMO 1853). La sua opera fu interrotta dall’esito del plebiscito del 1859 e dal conseguente esilio dell’ultimo dei Lorena.

Malgrado l’unione nel 1861, i due fondi storici della Biblioteca Nazionale non si sono mai veramente fusi: sistemati in magazzini diversi, conservarono le loro proprie segnature, i loro separati cataloghi. E ancora oggi è così. Ma quel che conta è che i due nuclei della Biblioteca risultano bibliograficamente complementari: il prezioso apporto della Palatina permise di colmare le lacune che in campo di editoria moderna e straniera avevano afflitto negli ultimi tempi la Biblioteca Magliabechiana, penalizzata da una cronica mancanza di fondi per acquisti. Sotto questo aspetto, non andrà troppo meglio alla neonata Biblioteca Nazionale; ma qui inizia un’altra storia.

Bibliography

• Catalogue 1771
  Catalogue des livres du cabinet particulier de LL.AA.RR., Florence, de l’Imprimerie
  granducale, 1771.
• Chimirri 1999
  Lucia Chimirri, Le letture di Pietro Leopoldo, «Biblioteche oggi», dicembre, 1999, pp. 42-45.
• Fava 1935¹
  Domenico Fava, Due biblioteche auliche nella Nazionale centrale di Firenze, «Accademie e biblioteche d’Italia», 9, 1935, pp. 448-474.
• Fava 1939
  Domenico Fava, La Biblioteca nazionale centrale di Firenze e le sue insigni
  Raccolte, Milano, Hoepli, 1939.
• Gentile 1889
  Luigi Gentile, I codici palatini della R. Biblioteca nazionale centrale di Firenze, I, Roma, Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, 1889.
• Mannelli Goggioli 1995
  Maria Mannelli Goggioli, La Biblioteca Palatina mediceo lotaringia ed il suo catalogo, «Culture del testo», I , 1995, 3, pp. 135-159.
• Palermo 1853
  Francesco Palermo, I manoscritti palatini di Firenze, Firenze, I. e R. Biblioteca Palatina, 1853-1868.
• Palermo 1854
  Francesco Palermo, Classazione dei libri a stampa dell’I. e R. Palatina in corrispondenza di un nuovo ordinamento dello scibile umano, Firenze, dall’I. e R. Biblioteca Palatina, 1854.
• Pasta 2003
  Renato Pasta, La biblioteca aulica e le lettura dei principi lorenesi, in Vivere a Pitti. Una reggia dai Medici ai Savoia, Firenze, Olschki, 2003, pp.351-387.
• Rossi 1996
  Mariaelise Rossi, Bibliofilia, bibliografia e biblioteconomia alla Corte dei granduchi di Toscana Ferdinando III e Leopoldo II, Roma, Vecchiarelli, 1996.
• Rotondi 1967
  Clementina Rotondi, La Biblioteca nazionale di Firenze dal 1861 al 1870, Firenze, AIB Sezione Toscana, 1967.

The Palatina scientific collections

In terms of scientific library collections, the 19th century saw spectacular growth for the library, in terms of both new acquisitions and the organisation of existing items. While on the one hand, a series of events led to the library receiving materials that were not strictly humanistic or literary, it is worth noting that this period was characterised by considerable positivity, driving the study of science and its sources. The most significant examples of this cultural direction were the acquisitions of the Galilean and Tagioni Tozzetti collections.

In 1818 the Grand Duke Ferdinand acquired the Galilean papers, the result of the impassioned efforts of Giovanni Battista Clemente Nelli, from his heirs. It could be said that Nelli, the author of a celebrated biography of Galileo, had dedicated his life to recovering every single document, manuscript and account belonging to Galileo, successfully bringing together all of Galileo’s writings that had mostly been dispersed in their passing to Viviani, the executor of his will, and then to Panzanini.

In 1822, the Grand Duke donated the Galilean papers he had acquired to the Palatina Library, which thus gained one of the most significant documentary sources in the history of science, not only for the significant quantity of autographs and documents it contained, but also for the manner in which the many subjects addressed were organised. In 1886, the collection was further enhanced with a donation from Antonio Favaro consisting of 40 files that, added to the pre-existing codices, was named the “Favaro Appendix”, brining the number of manuscripts in the collection to 340.

On arrival at the Palatina Library, the Galilean papers were taken on by the librarian Francesco Tassi, with the assistance of the spouse of the Lorraine Grand Duke, Maria Luisa of Naples, who had a personal interest in culture and science. This was, therefore, a significant acquisition, but of equal importance was the cataloguing that followed, with the purpose of organising what began as a mass of loose papers in accordance with a logical and conceptual scheme that still prevails and that has allowed the documents to be consulted.

This system of organisation was the result of the efforts of two great historians of science: Vincenzo Antinori (1792-1865; DBI v. 3), a passionate scholar of Galileo in the period of the Conservative Order in Tuscany characterised by particularly intense study, and later of Antonio Favaro (1847-1922; DBI v. 45), who carried out a further reorganisation of the work of Antinori that still persists, creating the framework for the National Edition of Galileo’s works, an unmatched feat of publishing and an essential point of reference for anyone studying his writings. Favaro also carried out a similar operation to that of Nelli a century earlier: drawing on notary documentation concerning Galileo’s legacy, he reconstructed the library of printed works belonging to the scientist, and through intense and patient research, managed to track down a number of important printed volumes that contained notes by Galileo himself, which were returned to the library, above all towards the end of the 1800s, and which can now be consulted online.
In the meantime, from 1851 onwards, the Palatina Library gained another fundamental scientific collection through donations and acquisitions from the Targioni Tozzetti family, composed of both printed works and manuscripts. The collection as a whole is the most complete representation of the development of the sciences in post-Galilean Tuscany. The papers belonging to the Targioni family are the result of the professional activities and scientific interests of its members, Giovanni, Ottaviano and Antonio: physicians, naturalists and chemists. Against the backdrop of a Tuscany marked, between the 1700s and 1800s, with the development of strong ties between the cultural scene and the institutions, generations of the Targioni Tozzetti family held significant public positions as primary physicians, library directors, heads of botanical gardens and professors in Florence. The common interests of the family highlighted the particular nature of its individual members, the most important of whom was Giovanni (1712-1783), whose writings reflect his many interests and activities, as physician, director of the botanical gardens and health officer. His son Ottaviano (1755-1829) was a physician at the Santa Maria Nova Hospital, a member of the Academy of Georgofili and director of the botanical gardens. His grandson Antonio (1785-1856) was chair of Chemistry, Botany and Medicine. Adolfo (1823-1902) was a zoologist and founder of the Agricultural Entomology Station.

The significant body of manuscripts contains writings by the Targioni Tozzetti, as well as by other figures who had dealings with them in various capacities: the botanical writings of Pier Antonio Micheli, the professor of Giovanni, and the manuscripts of Agostino del Riccio and other Florentine scientists. The mostly scientific material in the collection is accompanied by much documentation from the multifaceted cultural landscape of the time, such as booklets on literary history, travel memoires, collections of rhymes and autographs by illustrious figures from various countries and periods. This includes extensive and noteworthy correspondence, above all that of Ottaviano, which documents the extremely close ties between the Targioni family and scientists from all over Italy and Europe.