Printing Aldrovandi

On 16 December 1594 Ulisse Aldrovandi signed a contract with the Venetian bookseller Francesco De’ Franceschi (fl. 1558-99), ‘to print the history of Sir Aldrovandi’s Museum in Bologna’.[1] The contract stipulated that three volumes were to be printed, each to be sold separately. The first of these was to be devoted to ‘fossils’, the second to plants and the third to animals, thus covering geology, botany and zoology. The project was intended to be highly illustrated with an estimated 1,200 woodcuts in each of the first two volumes, and about 2,000 in the third volume. Aldrovandi suggested that three volumes on birds should likewise be printed, following the volume on ‘fossils’.[2] Of these projected volumes, only the three volumes on birds appeared during his lifetime, as well as a volume on insects, which was printed in 1602, three years before his death.

Ulisse Aldrovandi, De reliquis Animalibus exanguibus libri quatuor post mortem ejus editi: nempe de Mollibus, Crustaceis, Testaceis et Zoophytis (Bologna, 1642), title page.

The next volume to appear was this work on Crustacea and Mollusca, posthumously published in 1606 by his wife, Francesca Fontana, and purchased by Worth in a 1642 edition. The delay in publication between 1603 (the date of the final volume on birds) and 1606 was a result of a number of factors. De’ Franceschi had died in 1599 and another publisher had to be found who would be willing to undertake such a huge project. The folio format, the use of a good quality paper similar to that used in Pier Andrea Mattioli’s Commentarii in sex libros Pedacii Dioscoridis Anazarbei de medica materia (Venice, 1565), a request specifically stated in the 1594 contract, coupled with Aldrovandi’s wish for heavily illustrated volumes, meant that each volume was a major undertaking for any publisher and printer. De’ Franceschi was succeeded by Giovanni Battista Bellagamba (fl. 1596-1613), who had produced the second and third volumes on birds (1600 and 1603 respectively) and the 1602 volume on insects.[3] He likewise produced De reliquis Animalibus exanguibus libri quatuor post mortem ejus editi: nempe de Mollibus, Crustaceis, Testaceis et Zoophytis (Bologna, 1606) for Fontana but, as the above title page suggests, funding was becoming a major issue. The inclusion of a view of Bologna, as well as the coat of arms of the city, demonstrates that Fontana was looking for support from the Senate of Bologna to complete the project.

The Senate agreed to take on this role and initially considered Gaspare Bindoni as publisher but, due to his financial problems, in 1609 they hired Girolamo Tamburini (fl. 1607-21), to take over the publishing and in the following year Cornelius Uterver (d. 1619), to take on the editorial work on the project.[4] Progress was slow: as Duroselle-Melich points out, Tamburini produced only three volumes (a 1613 edition of De piscibus libri V, a 1616 edition of De quadrupedibus solidipedibus, and a 1621 edition of Quadrupedum omnium bisulcorum historia Joannes Cornelius Uteruerius (which Worth owned in a 1638, 1639 and 1642 edition respectively, all published by Tamburini’s successor Marco Antonio Bernia (fl. 1637-1661) during a publishing drive in the late 1630s and early to mid-1640s).[5] Following Uterver’s death, editorial work was undertaken first by Thomas Dempster (1579-1625), then Bartolomeo Ambrosini (1588-1657) and finally Ovidio Montalbani (1602-71).

The printing of the Aldrovandi set thus proved to be a multi-decade endeavour, involving a succession of editors, publishers and printers: Tamburini worked with the printers Giovanni Battista Bellagamba, Sebastiano Bonomi (fl. 1585-1623) and Vittorio Benacci (d. 1629) while Marco Antonio Bernia (as is clear from Worth’s set), worked with Nicolo Tebaldini (fl 1620-46) and Giovanni Battista Ferroni (fl. 1624-73).[6] The volumes in the Worth Library point to the vicissitudes of the printing experience – often dates of colophons and title pages do not match, suggesting, at least in some cases, a gap of a year or two between the completion of the text block and the addition of the title page.[7] Printing the Aldrovandi volumes was a costly and complicated endeavour but, despite these challenges, it also proved to be a lucrative one.[8]

The 1594 contract makes it clear that Aldrovandi had given a lot of thought to how his volumes should look. He had been planning it since the 1570s and was eager that it should be a publication which would add lustre to the reputation of the University of Bologna, ensure his own fame, and be as readable and useful as possible to a projected multi-national audience.[9] He was clearly impressed by the work of the Venetian printer Vincenzo Valgrisi (fl, 1540–72), who had produced Mattioli’s commentary on Dioscorides, for he stipulated that the fonts used ‘should be of the type called Silvio of size and beauty, that is the font of Andrea Baschio de Termis; work printed from Vincenzo Valgrisi in 1571’.[10] As Duroselle-Melish notes, Aldrovandi even gave instructions as to the placement of text and image, and concerning the size of images, which he wished to be as large as possible. [11] In the 1594 printing contract he had demanded the right to inspect the work before it was printed, to make sure that the volumes produced were up to his exacting standards.

Ever keen to keep his patrons happy, he requested that 25 copies, destined as ‘complimentary copies for princes, Cardinals, and others’ to whom he was indebted, should be prepared ‘in Fabriano-type paper’ – a cost he was willing to reimburse.[12] Beyond this he asserted that he should be liable to no further costs (apart from actually getting the manuscript to the printer), given that he had provided both text and images. He agreed to provide the engraved woodblocks to the printer – which were to be returned to him (and indeed the pear-wood blocks are still extant in Museo Ulisse Aldrovandi in the Palazzo Poggio, Bologna).[13]

The 1594 contract demonstrates the international aspirations of the project: some volumes were to be sold in Bologna but the majority of the publication was to be sent to ‘Germany, Venice, Padua and other places’ such as Florence, Rome and Naples.[14] Aldrovandi acquired both Italian and imperial privileges to protect against pirated copies but looked to De’ Franceschi to produce and distribute the volumes, which were clearly designed for an international market.

Ulisse Aldrovandi, De quadrupedibus solidipedibus volumen integrum Joannes Cornelius Uterverius in Gymnasio Bononiensis Simplicium medicamentorum professor collegit, & recensuit; Marcus Antonius Bernia in lucem restituit (Bologna, 1639), title page.

None of this would have been possible without the financial support of a wide circle of patrons and Aldrovandi (and subsequent editors) were keen to draw attention to their patrons’ munificence both in epistles dedicatory and on the title pages of the works. Ecclesiastical patrons (especially those with links to Bologna) were responsible for funding the majority of the volumes and the above example is a case in point, depicting the coat of arms of Cardinal Giulio Cesare Sacchetti (1586-1663), who was, at the time of printing, papal legate to Bologna (1637-1640).

Aldrovandi (with his own familial connections to the papacy) had been well aware of the importance of clerical (and especially curial) patronage and had drawn attention to it on the very first title page (of the 1599 edition of his volume on birds), where he depicted himself presenting the volume to Pope Clement VIII (1538-1605), with cardinals in attendance. Worth’s 1646 edition of the same volume has a different title page but continues the ecclesiastical theme for the later publication had been funded by Cardinal Carlo Rossetti (1615-81), whose coat of arms is depicted.[15] Like Sacchetii, Rossetti also had Bolognese links for he had studied arts and theology and later canon and civil law at the University of Bologna. He is perhaps best known for his mission as papal nuncio to the court of Charles I (1600-49), King of England. He had been sent there in 1639 by Pope Urban VIII (1568-1644), and his relatively brief stay was awarded with a number of subsequent appointments, the most important being his translation to the see of Faenza in May 1643 and his elevation to the curia in July of the same year.

Rossetti’s coat of arms was replaced in volumes II and III of Worth’s set of volumes on birds by that of Cardinal Alessandro Damasceni Perretti di Montalto (1571-1623), a grand-nephew of Pope Sixtus V (1520-90). Known (like his grand-uncle before him) as Cardinal Montalto, Alessandro was a noted patron and he too had direct links with Bologna, having been papal legate there on a number of occasions in the later sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The title page of the volumes he supported was duly changed to reflect the lions in the Perretti coat of arms (the original title pages of 1600 and 1603 editions had included his portrait).

The next volume to be published, De piscibus libri V.: et De cetis lib. unus. Joannes Cornelius Uterverius … collegit. Marc. Antonius Bernia in lucem restituit which was originally published in 1613 and republished at Bologna in 1638-1644, was likewise supported by a high-ranking cleric for it had been funded by Cardinal Decio Francesco Vitelli (1582-1646), titular archbishop of Thessalonici from 1632 to 1643 and apostolic nuncio to the Republic of Venice (1632-44), whose coat of arms was unsurprisingly included on its title page.

The three volumes on mammals likewise acknowledged clerical patronage: as we have seen Worth’s 1639 edition of De quadrupedibus solidipedibus volumen integrum Joannes Cornelius Uterverius in Gymnasio Bononiensis Simplicium medicamentorum professor collegit, & recensuit; Marcus Antonius Bernia in lucem restituit (Bologna, 1639), bore Sacchetti’s coat of arms. Paris Lodron (1586-1653), Graf, Archbishop of Salzburg was acknowledged on the title page of Worth’s second volume devoted to mammals, originally published in 1621: Quadrupedum omnium bisulcorum historia Joannes Cornelius Uteruerius … colligere incaepit, Thomas Dempsterus … perfecte absolvit, Marcus Antonius Bernia denuo in lucem edidit (Bologna, 1642), which likewise bears his coat of arms on the title page. Worth’s third volume on mammals, De quadrupedibus digitatis viviparis libri tres et De quadrupedibus digitatis oviparis libri duo Bartholomaeus Ambrosinus … collegit (Bologna, 1645), referred again to the patronage of Cardinal Montalto but this time the reference was to a nephew of the previous patron, Cardinal Francesco Peretti di Montalto (1595-1655), who was acknowledged also on the title page of the 1640 volume on serpents: Serpentum, et draconum historiæ libri duo Bartholomæus Ambrosinus … opus concinnauit (Bologna, 1640).

As can be seen from this, Aldrovandi (and his subsequent editors) were keen not only to include epistles dedicatory to their patrons but also to make an obvious allusion to them on the title pages of the Aldrovandi set. They continued this practice with their non-ecclesiastical patrons, for ducal coats of arms and in some cases portraits were incorporated also: for example, the title page of Worth’s volume on insects De animalibus insectis libri septem: cum singulorum iconibus ad viuum expressis … (Bologna, 1638), bore the coat of arms of Francesco Maria II della Rovere (1549-1631), Duke of Urbino, as well as the following encomium by Aldrovandi in the epistle dedicatory:

I send Your Most Serene Highness my History of Insects, dedicated by me to your most glorious name, thus to satisfy some part of the great obligations that I owe you and the desire that I have had for many years to leave some sign of my infinite devotion toward you behind me.[16]

Ulisse Aldrovandi, Musaeum metallicum in libros IIII. distributum / Bartholomaeus Ambrosinus … labore et studio composuit cum indice copiossimo ; Marcus Antonius Bernia in lucem edidit (Bologna, 1648), title page.

Two volumes published in the 1640s in Worth’s Aldrovandi set include portraits of their patrons: Monstrorum historia: cum paralipomenis historiæ omnium animalium. Bartholomæus Ambrosinus … labore, et studio volumen composuit; Marcus Antonius Bernia in lucem edidit (Bologna, 1642), bears a portrait of Ferdinando II (1610-1670), Grand-Duke of Tuscany, and Musaeum metallicum in libros IIII. Distributum … Bartholomaeus Ambrosinus … labore et studio composuit cum indice copiossimo; Marcus Antonius Bernia in lucem edidit (Bologna, 1648), includes the above portrait of Ranuccio II Farnese (1630-94), Duke of Parma. The Senate had made it clear to Bernia that he was to try and attract as much support as possible from outside sources.

Ulisse Aldrovandi, Dendrologiae naturalis scilicet arborum historiae libri duo : Sylva glandaria, acinosumque pomarium ubi eruditiones omnium generum una cum botanicis doctrinis ingenia quaecunque non parum juvant, et oblectant Ovidius Montalbanus … opus … collegit … Hieronymus Bernia … in lucem editum dicavit (Bologna, 1668), title page.

There was a twenty-year gap between the publication of Musaeum metallicum in libros IIII. Distributum … Bartholomaeus Ambrosinus … labore et studio composuit cum indice copiossimo; Marcus Antonius Bernia in lucem edidit (Bologna, 1648) and the last volume to be printed, Dendrologiae naturalis scilicet arborum historiae libri duo: Sylva glandaria, acinosumque pomarium ubi eruditiones omnium generum una cum botanicis doctrinis ingenia quaecunque non parum juvant, et oblectant Ovidius Montalbanus … opus … collegit … Hieronymus Bernia … in lucem editum dicavit (Bologna, 1668). As I suggest on the ‘Plants’ page, the delay might have been deliberate, for it was certainly fitting that the centenary of Aldrovandi’s foundation of the University of Bologna’s famed Botanical Garden should be marked with the publication of the last volume of the project which rather conveniently was devoted to plants. The volume, which bore the coat of arms of Cardinal Guidobaldo Thun (1616-68), who had been elected archbishop of Salzburg in 1654, had been one of the first projected by Aldrovandi in his 1594 printing!

Sources

De Tata, Rita, ‘Il commercio librario a Bologna tra ‘500 e ‘600: i librai di Ulisse Aldrovandi’, Archives, 6, no. 1 (2017), 39-91.

Duroselle-Melish, Caroline, ‘Centre and Periphery? Relations between Frankfurt and Bologna in the Transnational Books Trace of the 1600s’, in McLean, Matthew and Sara Barker (eds), International Exchange in the Early Modern Book World (Leiden: Brill, 2016), pp 31-58.

Findlen, Paula, Possessing Nature. Museum, Collecting, and Scientific Cultures in Early Modern Italy (London, 1996), p. 364.

Marabini, Stefano, Lucio Donati & Gian Battista Vai, ‘Ulisse Aldrovandi’s printing contract 1594’, in Vai, Gian Battista and William Cavazza (eds), Four Centuries of the Word Geology. Ulisse Aldrovandi 1603 in Bologna (Bologna, 2003), 113–25.

[1] Marabini, Stefano, Lucio Donati & Gian Battista Vai, ‘Ulisse Aldrovandi’s printing contract 1594’, in Vai, Gian Battista and William Cavazza (eds), Four Centuries of the Word Geology. Ulisse Aldrovandi 1603 in Bologna (Bologna, 2003), p. 118.

[2] Ibid., pp 118–9.

[3] Links are to the University of Bologna’s first editions which are online – in the main, Worth owned later editions. On the book trade in Bologna during Aldrovandi’s life, see De Tata, Rita, ‘Il commercio librario a Bologna tra ‘500 e ‘600: i librai di Ulisse Aldrovandi’, Archives, 6, no. 1 (2017), 39-91.

[4] Duroselle-Melish, Caroline, ‘Centre and Periphery? Relations between Frankfurt and Bologna in the Transnational Books Trace of the 1600s’, in McLean, Matthew and Sara Barker (eds), International Exchange in the Early Modern Book World (Leiden: Brill, 2016), p. 42.

[5] Ibid., p. 41.

[6] Ibid., p. 43, fn 43. Girolamo Bernia (fl 1664-68), who produced the last volume, in 1668, likewise worked with Giovanni Battista Ferroni).

[7] See, for example Dendrologiae naturalis scilicet arborum historiae libri duo: Sylva glandaria, acinosumque pomarium ubi eruditiones omnium generum una cum botanicis doctrinis ingenia quaecunque non parum juvant, et oblectant Ovidius Montalbanus … opus … collegit … Hieronymus Bernia … in lucem editum dicavit (Bologna, 1668), which has 1668 on the title page but 1667 on the colophon. As Duroselle-Melich points out, this usually reflects the long-drawn out nature of the printing process, where the text block might be printed well in advance of the title page. In Worth’s set there is a great deal of this kind of disparity: and, indeed, examples of the date on the colophon post-dating that on the title page: an example his volume De piscibus which has a 1638 date on the title page but a colophon dated 1644.

[8] Duroselle-Melish, Caroline, ‘Centre and Periphery?, pp 54-6, 58.

[9] Ibid., p. 34.

[10] Marabini, Stefano, Lucio Donati & Gian Battista Vai, ‘Ulisse Aldrovandi’s printing contract 1594’, p. 119.

[11] Duroselle-Melish, Caroline, ‘Centre and Periphery?’, p. 35.

[12] Marabini, Stefano, Lucio Donati & Gian Battista Vai, ‘Ulisse Aldrovandi’s printing contract 1594’, p. 119.

[13] Ibid., p. 120.

[14] Ibid.

[15] This title page may be seen on the ‘Life’ page of this online exhibition.

[16] Findlen, Paula, Possessing Nature. Museum, Collecting, and Scientific Cultures in Early Modern Italy (London, 1996), p. 364. The title page of Worth’s 1638 edition retained much of the framework and the heraldic devices of the first edition of 1602.