Bibliothecae Josephi Renati Imperialis […] Catalogus Secundum Auctorum cognomina ordine alphabetico dispositus, una cum altero Catalogo Scientiarum & artium

Folio (380x250 mm). [2], V, [1], 1-582, [2 blank], 583-738 pp. Cardinal Giuseppe Renato Imperiali's engraved coat-of-arms on the title page. Woodcut historiated initials throughout the text. Contemporary vellum over boards, inked title on spine (slightly worn and stained). First quire slightly browned, repaired marginal tears to the bottom of the title page not affecting the text, some scattered foxing and staining throughout, all in all a good, genuine copy, uncut with deckle edges.

First edition of the catalogue of the vast library of Cardinal Giuseppe Renato Imperiali (1651-1736). The catalogue, compiled by Imperiali's librarian Giusto Fontanini, lists about 24,000 titles arranged alphabetically by author in the first part (pp. 1-582) and by subject in the second (pp. 583-738). Each entry gives the name of the author in the language of the work (anonymous works are listed under the title), the title, the full printing data and the format. Fontanini also provides under each author's name all his contributions to the periodicals and miscellanies preserved in the library.

“The care shown in describing and classifying the books makes the Imperiali catalogue and its subject-index a good source of information about seventeenth-century books” (A. Taylor, General subject-indexes since 1548, Philadelphia, 1966, p. 185.

“In the early years of the eighteenth century, Imperiali also acquired a prominent role in the Roman cultural world thanks to his library, which was collected within a few years but quickly established itself as one of the largest in Rome. The original nucleus consisted of the modest book collection of his great-uncle [Cardinal Lorenzo Imperiali], which was greatly expanded in 1689-90 with the purchase of a substantial part of the library of Cardinal Jean-Gautier de Sluse [cf. F. Deseine, Bibliotheca Slusiana, Rome, 1690] and with the acquisition of part of [Marcello] Severoli's library, which took place around 1710. In 1711, when Giusto Fontanini published its catalog, the Imperial Library contained more than 15,000 volumes, with a predominance of legal, philosophical and literary texts. The library was an open structure, able to promote encounters among literati, thanks in part to high-level scholars such as Fontanini himself and Domenico Giorgi, who were strongly committed as publicists in the service of the Papacy” (S. Tabacchi, Imperiali, Giuseppe Renato, in: “Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani”, vol. 62, Rome, 2004, s.v.).

Imperiali stipulated in his will that his collection should be made available to the public after his death, but instead it was sold at auction in 1796: part of it was bought by Pius VI for the library of the Academy of Ecclesiastical Nobles, and part by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand III for the Palatina in Florence.

Imperiali was born into an aristocratic family in Francavilla Fontana in Puglia, in the Kingdom of Naples. In 1662 he and his three brothers were sent to Rome to live with their great-uncle, Cardinal Lorenzo Imperiali (1612-1673). In Rome, Giuseppe studied at the Collegio Germanico-Ungarico and undertook a religious career. In 1688 he was appointed general treasurer of the Church, and in the consistory of 13 February 1690 he was made a cardinal by Pope Alexander VIII and given the deaconry of San Giorgio in Velabro. He was then sent to Ferrara as papal legate, where he remained for seven years. In 1701 Clement XI appointed Imperiali prefect of the Congregation of Buon Governo, a powerful position that controlled the financing of public works. He died in Rome in 1737 at the age of 85.

A highly learned archbishop, historian and bibliophile, Giusto Fontanini was a leading figure in the controversy between the Holy See and the Este family over the possession of Comacchio, in which he clashed with Ludovico Antonio Muratori, who sided with the Este. His most important work is the Biblioteca dell'eloquenza italiana (1726) (cf. D. Busolini, Fontanini, Giusto, in: “Dizionario biografico degli italiani”, vol. 48, Rome, 1997, s.v.).

S. Nicolini, Bibliografia degli antichi cataloghi a stampa di biblioteche italiane, Florence, 1954, pp. 79-80, no. 67; G. Pollard & A. Ehrman, The Distribution of Books by Catalogue from the Invention of Printing to A.D. 1800, based on Material in the Broxbourne Library, Cambridge, 1965, pp. 262-264, no. 332; A. Taylor, Book Catalogues: their Varieties and Uses, Winchester, 1986, pp. 104-105; F. Cancedda, Figure e fatti intorno alla biblioteca del cardinale Imperiali, mecenate del ‘700, Rome, 1995.

[13971]