The Bookseller of Florence: The Story of the Manuscripts That Illuminated the Renaissance

by Ross King

Overview

The bestselling author of Brunelleschi’s Dome and Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling captures the excitement and spirit of the Renaissance in this chronicle of the life and work of “the king of the world’s booksellers” and the technological disruption that forever changed the ways knowledge spread.

The Renaissance in Florence conjures images of beautiful frescoes and elegant buildings—the dazzling handiwork of the city’s skilled artists and architects. But equally important for the centuries to follow were geniuses of a different sort: 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, which bestselling author Ross King relates in his exhilarating new book, was a remarkable man: Vespasiano da Bisticci. Born in 1422, he became what a friend called “the king of the world’s booksellers.” At a time when all books were made by hand, over four decades Vespasiano produced and sold many hundreds of volumes from his bookshop, which also became a gathering spot for debate and discussion. Besides repositories of ancient wisdom by the likes of Plato, Aristotle, and Quintilian, his books were works of art in their own right, copied by talented scribes and illuminated by the finest miniaturists. His clients included a roll-call of popes, kings, and princes across Europe who wished to burnish their reputations by founding magnificent libraries.

Vespasiano reached the summit of his powers as Europe’s most prolific merchant of knowledge when a new invention appeared: the printed book. By 1480, the king of the world’s booksellers was swept away by this epic technological disruption, whereby cheaply produced books reached readers who never could have afforded one of Vespasiano’s elegant manuscripts.

A thrilling chronicle of intellectual ferment set against the dramatic political and religious turmoil of the era, Ross King’s brilliant The Bookseller of Florence is also an ode to books and bookmaking that charts the world-changing shift from script to print through the life of an extraordinary man long lost to history—one of the true titans of the Renaissance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802159830
Publisher:	Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Publication date:	04/19/2022
Pages:	496
Sales rank:	160,081
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Ross King is the award-winning and bestselling author of Brunelleschi’s Dome, Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling, The Judgment of Paris, Mad Enchantment, Leonardo and the Last Supper, and Machiavelli: Philosopher of Power, among other books. He and his wife live in Woodstock, Great Britain.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The Street of Booksellers 1

Chapter 2 The Pure Radiance of the Past 13

Chapter 3 Wondrous Treasures 32

Chapter 4 Athens on the Arno 40

Chapter 5 Wise Men from the East 59

Chapter 6 Vespasiano Mangiadore 79

Chapter 7 Antique Letters 99

Chapter 8 Friends in High Places 115

Chapter 9 The Fall of Greece 129

Chapter 10 The Miraculous Man 140

Chapter 11 The Decades of the King 156

Chapter 12 A Destiny of Dignity and Excellence 172

Chapter 13 The Spirit of Plato 184

Chapter 14 Uomini da Bene e Letterati 199

Chapter 15 Hermes the Thrice-Greatest 211

Chapter 16 A Divine Way of Writing 220

Chapter 17 The Finest Library Since Antiquity 231

Chapter 18 The Second Coming 248

Chapter 19 Florentinis Ingeniis Nil Ardui Est 266

Chapter 20 For the Advantage of All Scholars 278

Chapter 21 Apud Sanctum Iacobum de Ripoli 289

Chapter 22 A Reversal of Fortune 301

Chapter 23 How the Mighty Are Fallen 317

Chapter 24 The Land of Oblivion 326

Chapter 25 Lament for Otranto 345

Chapter 26 Pardon and Deliver Us 359

Chapter 27 The Grand Conjunction 368

Epilogue: Chasing Away the Darkness 387

Acknowledgments 401

Image Credits 405

Selected Bibliography 407

Notes 411

Index 453

Editorial Reviews

01/25/2021

Art historian King (Brunelleschi’s Dome) delivers a richly detailed portrait of 15th-century Florence and the important role booksellers played in disseminating ancient Greek and Latin texts that were vital to the Renaissance. King focuses on Vespasiano da Bisticci, a renowned bookseller and “manuscript hunter” who produced gorgeously illustrated parchment copies of theological texts and works by Plato, Aristotle, and other ancient philosophers. Like many Florentines, Vespasiano had to balance his relationships with the city-state’s most prominent families carefully; in one case, his stellar reputation resulted in a brief wartime truce between his patrons Lorenzo de’ Medici and the King of Urbino so that a specially commissioned Bible could reach the king safely. When the success of the Gutenberg printing press reduced interest in parchment booksellers, Vespasiano used his retirement to write a humanizing biographical series on his famous friends and patrons, including Cosimo de’ Medici. King’s expansive narrative also includes a history of bookmaking and the transition between “modern” Gothic calligraphy and the new “ancient” method designed to mimic the cleaner style found in classical works. Though somewhat hampered by a lack of available information about Vespasiano’s personal life, this expert account shines a new light on the Renaissance. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Bookseller of Florence:

“If you want to celebrate the place that bookmaking and bookselling still have in our lives, notwithstanding all those hours captive to the digital glimmer, you could do a lot worse than immerse yourself in Ross King’s rich history of Vespasiano da Bisticci, ‘the king of the world’s booksellers,’ in 15th-century Florence . . . Though Vespasiano himself was the author of a collection of biographies of ‘illustrious men,’ the real pleasure of King’s book is its detailed evocation of the physical grind of bookmaking . . . What you will find in abundance here is a historical celebration of the Greek humanist Cardinal Bessarion’s belief that books ‘live, they converse and speak with us, they teach us, educate us, console us.’ Painfully deprived as we have been of the immediate joys of friendly chatter and animated argument, have we ever valued the company of books more dearly?”—Simon Schama, New York Times Book Review

“A marvel of storytelling and a master class in the history of the book, explaining sometimes arcane bookmaking processes in clear and coherent language while lending an easy touch to otherwise confounding historical turmoil . . . A dazzling, instructive and highly entertaining book, worthy of the great bookseller it celebrates.”—Ernest Hilbert, Wall Street Journal

“[A] delightful, immersive history of books and bookselling in the heart of the Renaissance . . . Engrossing and meticulously researched . . . As this is a book about books, Ross wrangles myriad details about their creation, including producing parchment, inks, illuminations, bindings, movable type and paper (sometimes from the wardrobes of Black Death victims!), as well as innovations in typography and layout. And for bibliophiles who are also word nerds, there's lots of juicy etymology.”—Cory Oldweiler, Minneapolis Star Tribune

“This fascinating, richly immersive book introduces us to Vespasiano da Bisticci, known as ‘the king of the world’s booksellers’ at a time of great intellectual and literary ferment in 15th-century Europe. His timing was great until it wasn’t; the printing press loomed. A vivid, expansive read.”—Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe

“The scope of King’s knowledge is staggering and his book bulges with facts. They are at their most enticing when they relate to physical processes such as the details of Vespasiano’s manuscript production . . . The author is equally circumstantial when describing the rival process of printing. Anyone who has set up a page using moveable metal type will be impressed by the vividness and precision of his account . . . Remarkable as these feats of factual exposition are, King’s supreme ability is to imagine himself into the past . . . Spectacular.”—John Carey, Times (UK)

“Excellent . . . The difficulties of the 15th-century book trade, though, are precisely what make The Bookseller of Florence such a fascinating read: they link pursuits as seemingly minor as sheep farming to plague, politics, and papal crusades. Though ostensibly a biography of Vespasiano, he is less the book’s subject than its method: a window on to the intellectual, political and technological developments of a time in radical ferment. It is an astute choice by King, just as King—entertaining, witty and expert—is a fortunate fate for Vespasiano. It is a book I will be keeping on my shelves, despite the crowding.”—Tim Smith-Laing, Telegraph (UK)

“King’s curiosity for his subject is insatiable . . . A lavish banquet of stories and facts . . . A delight, a popular history that makes the complexities of the past understandable . . . Enthralling.”—Sarah Dunant, Literary Review (UK)

“In an eloquent biography, Ross King charts [Vespasiano’s] rise to the top.”—Economist

“Takes us through description and anecdote to 15th-century Italy and the heart of the Renaissance . . . While The Bookseller of Florence is a story about Florence and the Renaissance, and the competition for power and knowledge and influence, it’s also a story about an independent bookstore and the bookseller who owned it.”—Deborah Dundas, Toronto Star

“The life of Vespasiano runs through [The Bookseller of Florence], but the life functions more as a bowl than a dome—a vessel filled with stories, digressions, tradecraft, statistics.”—Cullen Murphy, Air Mail

“King effectively contrasts the drive to improve and learn to the frequently extreme violence in society at the time in the age of the Medici . . . As King illustrates, Vespasiano was an expert networker who sometimes sold his books to both sides of warring parties, somehow keeping his own head from going on one of those stakes . . . Vespasiano’s story is remarkable, and King does a meritorious job of telling it, along with many interesting detours.”—Jim Patterson, Chapter 16

“Magnificent . . . King’s meticulous research provides an immersive reading experience as he expertly weaves the political intrigue of families vying for power and currying favor with the pope into a riveting intellectual history covering the evolution of books, Renaissance Italy, classical philosophy and literature, and the invention of the printing press. A profoundly engaging study of a time when books were considered essential to a meaningful life, and knowledge and wisdom were cherished as ends in themselves. For readers of Stephen Greenblatt’s The Swerve.”—Booklist (starred review)

“In this fascinating biography, Canadian author King weaves Vespasiano’s story into the fabric of the tumultuous times in which he lived. Although the details about the history and mechanics of early Renaissance book production, such as ink manufacture and distribution supply chains, might be tedious in another work, here they add to the depth and enjoyment of the story. The result is a narrative about a man and his books, and so much more, including the origins and history of the Frankfurt Book Fair and the influence of Johannes Gutenberg and his printing press on the arc of history. Standout narrative nonfiction that will engage bibliophiles and readers who enjoy historical nonfiction.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“A richly detailed portrait of 15th-century Florence and the important role booksellers played in disseminating ancient Greek and Latin texts that were vital to the Renaissance . . . This expert account shines a new light on the Renaissance.”—Publishers Weekly

Praise for Ross King:

“King has made a career elucidating crucial episodes in the history of art and architecture.”—TIME

“Ross King has a track record when it comes to turning such art stories into gripping narratives . . . His method is expansive, including personal, political, social and cultural context.”—Sunday Times (UK)

“King has the gift of clear, unpretentious exposition, and an instinctive narrative flair.”—Guardian

“King gives us a gripping account of how that painting was created . . . [and] deftly situates the painting in a historical context—against political events in Italy at the time, religious attitudes of the day and contemporaneous developments in art—and also places it in the context of Leonardo’s career . . . A fascinating volume.”—New York Times, on Leonardo and the Last Supper

“One of architecture’s great tales.”—Newsweek, on Brunelleschi’s Dome

“Ross King expertly wipes away such smudges from the story of this great painting, only to uncover a truth even exciting and improbable . . . Now that art lovers can see the painting as it was originally conceived, this fabulous and eminently readable history will help them appreciate that it was no immaculate conception.”—San Francisco Chronicle, on Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling

“Sensitive, deeply researched and altogether delightful.”—Newsday, on Mad Enchantment

“A tour de force.”—New York Times Book Review, on The Judgment of Paris

“So thorough is King’s grasp of the Second Empire’s cultural politics, so ironic his wit and choice of detail, his text remains a page-turner throughout.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review, on The Judgment of Paris

From the Publisher

04/01/2021

When 11-year-old Vespasiano da Bisticci arrived in Florence in 1433, his first job was in a bookshop, binding manuscripts. He became, during his 40-year career, "the king of the world's booksellers," as one client described him. With customers who included Italian nobility and the wealthy literati of Germany, France, and England, he not only witnessed the rediscovery of ancient Greek and Latin philosophers and the arrival of the moveable-type printing press, but also the transition in book printing from papyrus to parchment to paper. In this fascinating biography, Canadian author King (Brunelleschi's Dome) weaves Vespasiano's story into the fabric of the tumultuous times in which he lived. Although the details about the history and mechanics of early Renaissance book production, such as ink manufacture and distribution supply chains, might be tedious in another work, here they add to the depth and enjoyment of the story. The result is a narrative about a man and his books, and so much more, including the origins and history of the Frankfurt Book Fair and the influence of Johannes Gutenberg and his printing press on the arc of history. VERDICT Standout narrative nonfiction that will engage bibliophiles and readers who enjoy historical nonfiction.—Linda Frederiksen, formerly with Washington State Univ. Lib., Vancouver

Library Journal

Narrator James Cameron Stewart’s precise diction and cool tone illuminate Ross King’s detailed introduction to bookmaking, ink production, parchment and papermaking, and the various methods for distributing books in Renaissance Florence in this engrossing biography of Vespasiano da Bisticci. Fifteenth-century Florence was a city in political turmoil. Vespasiano, born in 1422, grew up to be a man obsessed by books who became known as “the king of the world’s booksellers.” Stewart’s tone is scholarly as he delivers an informative look at the reasons for the shift from handwritten manuscripts, with their elegantly bound volumes, to the printing press of Johannes Gutenberg, which eventually led to the mass production of books. King’s exhaustive research and Stewart’s accessible narration make this a must for bibliophiles. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2021 - AudioFile

Narrator James Cameron Stewart’s precise diction and cool tone illuminate Ross King’s detailed introduction to bookmaking, ink production, parchment and papermaking, and the various methods for distributing books in Renaissance Florence in this engrossing biography of Vespasiano da Bisticci. Fifteenth-century Florence was a city in political turmoil. Vespasiano, born in 1422, grew up to be a man obsessed by books who became known as “the king of the world’s booksellers.” Stewart’s tone is scholarly as he delivers an informative look at the reasons for the shift from handwritten manuscripts, with their elegantly bound volumes, to the printing press of Johannes Gutenberg, which eventually led to the mass production of books. King’s exhaustive research and Stewart’s accessible narration make this a must for bibliophiles. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2021 - AudioFile

2021-01-16
The role of books in the Florentine Renaissance.

In his latest, King revisits Florence, the setting for Bruneschelli’s Dome. In 1433, on a street that was “at the very center of Florence’s manuscript trade,” 11-year-old Vespasiano da Bisticci began a “long and astounding career as a maker of books and a merchant of knowledge.” Known to many as the “king of the world’s booksellers,” the bright and amiable Vespasiano was well positioned to become friends with some of the city’s most influential and book-loving citizens, including Pope Eugenius IV and Cosimo de’ Medici. Besides making magnificent, illustrated books for wealthy customers and assisting them in building their libraries, Vespasiano’s main claim to fame, argues King, was his own book, The Lives of 103 Illustrious Men, which Swiss historian Jacob Burkhardt used as a primary reference for his influentialThe Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860). Vespasiano wrote about important manuscript hunters who unearthed ancient texts that were vital to literary and historical scholarship. He became an expert on the manuscripts and authors and traveled to inspect private libraries and make purchases for his bookshop and wealthy clients, took commissions to help stock important libraries, and hired copyists to reproduce manuscripts. King discusses in lavish detail how scribes copied manuscripts and illustrators produced illuminated decorations. The development of new scripts allowed speedier copying; one Florentine copyist could produce 20 pages, front and back, in two days. “The 1460s,” writes the author, “witnessed a higher production of manuscripts in Europe than at any point in history.” Throughout, King deftly navigates Florence’s rich cultural and political history, painting intimate portraits of Vespasiano and others involved in the book world during these incredible times, including the man who would revolutionize it all, Johannes Gutenberg. Vespasiano’s fascinating and expansive story occasionally sags under the weight of the author’s desire to leave no detail unturned.

A treat for book lovers.

Kirkus Reviews