Thursday, November 04, 2004

 

The Lap of Jupiter

The German humanist Brassicanus on the library acquired by King Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490) of Hungary:
I have looked at all the books. But shall I say books? Every book I saw is a treasure ... It seemed in truth as if I were not in a library but -- as it is customary to say -- on the lap of Jupiter. There were more Greek as well as Hebrew volumes which King Matthias had bought for immense amounts of money in the interior of Greece after the fall of Constantinople and the destruction of many other Greek cities ... And more ancient and new Latin books here ... than anywhere else within my knowledge.
More here.



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