Chapter I. From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. (Pioneers of the humanist idea, humanistic libraries, the teaching of Greek gains ground)

Introduction

The teaching of Greek gains ground

The character of the humanistic library

The humanistic philosophy

A complete humanistic library

Revision of the university curriculum The Church’s attitude to the classics Academies and scholarly coteries Typography at the service of humanism Public libraries

Private libraries owned by scholars: France, Germany, Geneva, Spain, England, The Netherlands

Libraries of contemporary literature

The history of geography

The library as the basis for Petrarch’s literary studies

Greek teachers and owners of humanistic libraries in Petrarch’s circle

Boccaccio and his library

Leonzio Pilato

The teaching of Greek language and literature is introduced into the West: Manuel Chrysoloras

The first bilingual (Greek and Latin) library of the Renaissance: Palla Strozzi

Chapter II. From the east to the west. (Libraries of Byzantine scholars in the West and of Italian humanists. Academies and the first great libraries of the Renaissance)

Libraries of Byzantine scholars in the West: From Manuel Chrysoloras to Ianos Laskaris: Manuel Chrysoloras, Cardinal Bessarion, Theodoros Gazis, Ioannes Argyropoulos, Demetrios Chalkokondyles, Andronikos Kallistos, Konstantinos Laskaris, Ianos Laskaris, Markos Mousouros

Itinerant suppliers of manuscripts to libraries: Poggio

Academies in Italy and their role in the diffusion of ancient literature The Platonic Academy of Florence

Pico della Mirandola and his library

Novello Malatesta’s library at Cesena

Cardinal Bessarion’s library; Bessarion’s Academy

The Vatican Library

A literary scholar on a par with Petrarch: Politian and his library

Chapter III. The invention of printing. (The role of printing in the dissemination of knowledge and the contribution of Aldus Manutius to the advancement of Greek and Roman literature. Libraries of the literati and monumental libraries)

Τhe role of typography in the dissemination of knowledge

Matthias Corvinus’s library

The library of a humanist beyond the Alps: Janus Pannonius

The Medici library: Niccoli and his library; Cosimo’s heirs; The library under Lorenzo the Magnificent

Aldus and his contribution to the promotion of Greek and Latin literature

Chapter IV. The great centre of humanism in the north. (The pioneers of French humanism, the role of the Parisian printing houses, and the French royal libraries)

Τhe character of French humanism and its pioneers

The French Church and classical literature

The classics seen as ‘French literature’

The great story of Greek printing in France

Greek books printed by Estienne (1545-1551)

The formation of the French Royal Library

The library of Louis de Bruges

Manuscripts commissioned by Louis XII

The library is transferred to the Château of Blois: The catalogues; The contents of the library

The library of François I

Works by Aristotle and his commentators in French libraries and the character of French libraries in the first hundred years of typography

Other Aristotelian publishing centres

Chapter V. An apostle of humanistic ideas from the north: Erasmus. (Retracing the map of printing and books in the context of the Reformation)

Erasmus

From Paris to Geneva; A book centre that was a bastion of the Reformation and heir to the classical tradition

Libraries at the service of printing houses

The great printing houses of Geneva: Crespin and Estienne

The Catholic Church’s polemic against book production

Book fairs as a means for the enrichment of libraries

Censorship: the bane of books

The character of Renaissance libraries: from manuscripts to printed books

The ‘Reformation Library’

Chapter VI. Libraries for a new Christian literature. (Translations of the Bible, the Dissolution of Monastic Libraries in England, and Libraries belonging to Men of Letters)

Towards a new Christian literature: humanist involvement in the emendation and translation of the Old and New Testaments. The Hebrew Bible; The Vulgate: St. Jerome’s Latin translation; The Gutenberg Bible; Erasmus’s New Testament; Ximenes’s Complutensian Polyglot Bible; Luther’s German Bible; The Bible in English; Coverdale’s Bible; Matthew’s Bible; The English Bible of Geneva; The chronicle of the publication of the Paris Bible

The dissolution of England’s historic monastic libraries: John Leland’s list; Leland’s role as a protector of manuscripts; Leland’s library and its fate; Other losses of library books

Libraries of scholars and men of letters from Italy to Northern Europe

Italy: A Poet’s Library: Gioviano Pontano; The library of a future Pope. Paul III’s collection; Library catalogues and publisher/printers’ lists; The international library of Gian Vincenzo Pinelli; Libraries belonging to intellectuals; Book collections assembled on scientific criteria

Germany: Reuchlin’s interests as a student and teacher; The ‘Battle of Books’; Reuchlin’s Library

France: Michel de Chamelet’s Library

Spain: Ponce’s Library

England: Public Libraries; Private Libraries; England and the international book market; English libraries organized around Italian models

Towards the compilation of national and international bibliographies

The library of a book-aesthete: Willibald Pirckheimer

Beatus Rhenanus’s library at Sélestat; Basel: the most important humanist printing centre in Northern Europe

The main body of his library Beatus Rhenanus’s library at Sélestat

Chapter VII. The new literature fills library shelves; and a historic library. (New forms of literature in the aftermath of the Italian Renaissance, the influence of the classics and of Petrarch and the Pléiade, and an exemplary university library: the Bodleian)

The new literature fills library shelves

Italian literature under constraint

The intellectual atmosphere in Catholic France

German, Danish and Dutch literature find their identity The birth of Renaissance poetry in England

European literary masterpieces of the late sixteenth century: Luís Vaz de Camões; Montaigne; Cervantes; Shakespeare

The Bodleian Library; The Bodleian Library’s first printed catalogue

Chapter VIII. Architecture. (The evolution of library architecture from the Middle Ages to the Late Renaissance)

Architecture

The iconography of library decoration

Furnishings

Libraries on the Italian model: The library of Santa Annunziata in Florence; The library of San Marco in Florence

The Biblioteca Malatestiana at Cesena

Libraries in Italy following the lines of Michelozzo’s design. Florence: The library of Badia; The library of Santa Croce. Bologna: The library of San Domenico; The library of San Francesco. Padua: The library of San Giovanni di Verdara. Parma: The library of San Giovanni Evangelista. Piacenza: The library of San Sepolcro. Perugia: The library of San Domenico. Milan: The library of Sant’Eustorgio; The library of Santa Maria delle Grazie; The library of San Vittore al Corpo. Monte Oliveto: The library of the Abbey. Mantua: The library of San Agnese; The library of San Domenico; The library of Santa Maria degli Angeli. Brescia: The library of San Barnaba. Venice: The library of San Giorgio Maggiore. Vicenza: The library of Santa Corona.

The library of the Holy See

The library of Duke Federico da Montefeltro

The Medici Library in Florence

The library of St. Mark’s in Venice

The Escorial library

The Bodleian Library in Oxford.