The bookseller of Florence : Vespasiano da Bisticci and the manuscripts that illuminated the Renaissance
King, Ross, 1962-2022
Books
The untold account of a Florentine bookseller working at the frontiers of human knowledge, and the epochal shift from script to print that defined the Renaissance. The Renaissance in Florence conjures images of beautiful frescoes and elegant buildings - the dazzling handiwork of the city's artists and architects. But equally important were geniuses of another kind: Florence's manuscript hunters, scribes, scholars and booksellers, who blew the dust off a thousand years of history and, through the discovery and diffusion of ancient knowledge, imagined a new and enlightened world. At the heart of this activity was a remarkable bookseller: Vespasiano da Bisticci. Besides repositories of ancient wisdom by the likes of Plato, Aristotle and Cicero, his books were works of art in their own right, copied by talented scribes and illuminated by the finest miniaturists.
Main title:
Author:
King, Ross, 1962-, author
Imprint:
[London] : Vintage, 2022.
Collation:
viii, 481 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (black and white, and colour), map (black and white) ; 20 cm
Notes:
Originally published: London: Chatto & Windus, 2021.Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:
9781784709372 (pbk. :)
Dewey class:
945.51105945.511945.51105092945.51105 KINB VESB
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
2287147
Bookmark link:
More Information: