Plutei
Item
Country
IT
Name of institution (English)
Laurentian Library
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
ita
Contact information: postal address
Piazza San Lorenzo 9, 50123 Florence
Contact information: phone number
0039 0552937911
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
b-mela@beniculturali.it
Reference number
Plut.
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Plutei
Title (official language of the state)
Plutei
Language of title
ita
Creator / accumulator
Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana
Date note
10th century/16th century
Language(s)
gre
heb
ita
lat
Extent
3,918 storage units
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Good
Scope and content
The Plutei fonds comprises precious manuscripts and printed books belonging to the Medici's private library, containing Latin, Greek and also Hebrew codices of diverse subjects and provenance. Amongst the Hebrew manuscripts, there is a Hebrew translation of an Avicenna's medical treatise (identified as "Eiusdem aliquot Libri") copied in Lisbon in 1489 (Plut. 88.27). Another highlight of this collection with a probable Iberian Jewish origin is codex Plut. 44.22 ("Liber Cabbalae operativae"), a Hebrew book of practical Kabbalah, containing several treatises on Kabbalah, medicine and natural philosophy, which includes a Hebrew compendium (Book of women's love) on magic, sex, cosmetic, gynaecology and obstetrics. The codicological study of this manuscript concluded that it was probably written in the Catalan-Provençal region in the late 15th century.
Digital copies of these manuscripts are available online in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana digital repository.
Digital copies of these manuscripts are available online in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana digital repository.
Archival history
The Plutei fonds is the original collection of the Biblioteca Laurenziana, composed of about 3,000 manuscripts and printed books, rebound in red leather with Medici arms. It was stored in the library's bookshelves, the "plutei", when it opened in 1571. These items are listed in the catalogue compiled by Giovanni Rondinelli and Baccio Valori in 1589. The codices belonged to the private Medici collection, whose core was the 63 books owned by Cosimo il Vecchio in 1417/1418. By the time of his death in 1464, the collection had already reached 150 books. His sons Piero (1416-1469) and Giovanni (1421-1463) vied with each other in commissioning illuminated manuscripts. A great number of Greek codices were acquired by Lorenzo il Magnifico (1449-1492), son of Piero, who also gave a new asset to the family collection when, from the 1480s onwards, he started ordering copies of all texts lacking in the Library. His aim was to transform the Medici library into an exhaustive centre of research. Amongst Cosimo's great-grandsons, Piero (1472-1504) followed Lorenzo's steps until the expulsion of the Medici in 1494, whilst Giovanni (1475-1521) distinguished himself by his love of books, having owned codices since his youth. Giovanni, who was elected Pope in 1513 as Leo X, recovered the family library from the Dominicans of San Marco, who had bought the books from the Signoria. In 1508, Giovanni transferred the library to the family palace in Rome, Palazzo Madama at Sant'Eustachio. It was only under the direction of another Medici Pope, Clement VII — Giulio de Medici, cousin of Giuliano — that the organisation and return of the collection to Florence was carried out. Other Humanistic libraries were added to this collection, such as those of Francesco Sassetti and Francesco Filelfo, as well as the manuscripts copied for or bought by Leo X during his stay in Rome. Some of the most precious exemplars of this holding were acquired from the library of the Dominican convent of S. Marco.
Administrative / Biographical history
The Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, commissioned by Pope Clement VII de Medici to Michelangelo Buonarroti, was officially inaugurated in 1571. At the moment of its opening, the library comprised a collection of about 3,000 manuscripts and printed books from the Medici's private library. Further acquisitions continued to follow the aim of collecting books of highly textual and esthetical quality and value.
Amongst the treasures of the Laurenziana, there are some of the most ancient or unique manuscripts containing Tacitus, Pliny, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Quintilian, as well as the codex of Vergil, corrected in 494 by Turcius Rufius Apronianus Asterius, and the oldest extant copy of Justinian's Corpus Iuris, copied just after its promulgation. The Laurenziana also preserves one of the three complete collections of Dialoghi platonici in carta bona given by Cosimo the Elder to Marsilio Ficino to translate; as well as the Squarcialupi Codex, the only existing source for the study of profane music between the 13th and 14th centuries; some autographs of Petrarch and Boccaccio; Guicciardini's Storia d'Italia with notes by the author; and the autograph biography of Benvenuto Cellini.
The pursuit of excellence has inspired the growth of the Laurenziana ever since its beginning. Such growth was ensured through expropriations, donations and acquisitions.
In 1757, Angelo Maria Bandini was appointed librarian of the Laurenziana. During nearly fifty years, he managed an extremely shrewd acquisition policy and published a series of monumental catalogues of the collections. The organisation of Laurenziana's collections did not suffer significant changes in the two centuries that followed Bandini's death in 1803. Manuscripts coming from libraries once belonging to private or extinct religious institutions were distributed amongst the Florentine libraries, while the Laurenziana received the Greek and Latin classics, the illuminated codices, and a group of Oriental codices. In 1783, some of the most precious exemplars of the Medici library kept at Palazzo Pitti and passed on to the Biblioteca Palatina Lorenese entered the Laurenziana.
In 1818, the Florentine bibliophile Angelo Maria d'Elci donated his precious collection of Greek and Latin classics to the Laurenziana. At the end of the 19th century, the Laurenziana acquired the library of Lord Bertram Ashburnham. In the early 20th century, various campaigns organised by Italian papyrologists in Egypt gave rise to a papyri collection of about 2,500 items.
During the Second World War, the Laurenziana stored its manuscripts in the Abbazia di Passignano and the Plutei (bookshelves) collection in the vaults of the Basilica di San Lorenzo. Thus, it was able to save its collection from damages.
At present, the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana is still an inexhaustible source for classical and humanistic scholars.
Amongst the treasures of the Laurenziana, there are some of the most ancient or unique manuscripts containing Tacitus, Pliny, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Quintilian, as well as the codex of Vergil, corrected in 494 by Turcius Rufius Apronianus Asterius, and the oldest extant copy of Justinian's Corpus Iuris, copied just after its promulgation. The Laurenziana also preserves one of the three complete collections of Dialoghi platonici in carta bona given by Cosimo the Elder to Marsilio Ficino to translate; as well as the Squarcialupi Codex, the only existing source for the study of profane music between the 13th and 14th centuries; some autographs of Petrarch and Boccaccio; Guicciardini's Storia d'Italia with notes by the author; and the autograph biography of Benvenuto Cellini.
The pursuit of excellence has inspired the growth of the Laurenziana ever since its beginning. Such growth was ensured through expropriations, donations and acquisitions.
In 1757, Angelo Maria Bandini was appointed librarian of the Laurenziana. During nearly fifty years, he managed an extremely shrewd acquisition policy and published a series of monumental catalogues of the collections. The organisation of Laurenziana's collections did not suffer significant changes in the two centuries that followed Bandini's death in 1803. Manuscripts coming from libraries once belonging to private or extinct religious institutions were distributed amongst the Florentine libraries, while the Laurenziana received the Greek and Latin classics, the illuminated codices, and a group of Oriental codices. In 1783, some of the most precious exemplars of the Medici library kept at Palazzo Pitti and passed on to the Biblioteca Palatina Lorenese entered the Laurenziana.
In 1818, the Florentine bibliophile Angelo Maria d'Elci donated his precious collection of Greek and Latin classics to the Laurenziana. At the end of the 19th century, the Laurenziana acquired the library of Lord Bertram Ashburnham. In the early 20th century, various campaigns organised by Italian papyrologists in Egypt gave rise to a papyri collection of about 2,500 items.
During the Second World War, the Laurenziana stored its manuscripts in the Abbazia di Passignano and the Plutei (bookshelves) collection in the vaults of the Basilica di San Lorenzo. Thus, it was able to save its collection from damages.
At present, the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana is still an inexhaustible source for classical and humanistic scholars.
Access points: locations
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
Records are arranged sequentially.
Access, restrictions
The consultation of several manuscripts from the Plutei fonds is restricted due to their physical condition or high value. For authorisation to consult these codices, a request must be submitted by e-mail to the Manuscripts Office (b-mela.manoscritti@beniculturali.it) several days before visiting the library.
Finding aids
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2021
Bibliography
Linked resources
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| כתיב (Ktiv) | Existence and location of originals |