Medical Works in the Library of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. A Preliminary Survey

Abstract

  Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) spent his short life exploring Ancient and Medieval philosophy and Christian, Jewish and Islamic theology in order to show the basic harmony of all beliefs. He used his considerable means to put together a library for study, with thousands of manuscripts and printed books in Latin, Italian, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, among others. The library was acquired by Cardinal Domenico Grimani in 1498 and brought to the chapter of Saint Anthony at Castello in Venice a few decades later. Contrary to what has frequently been asserted, far from all of Pico’s and Grimani’s books were destroyed in the fire of 1687 that left Saint Anthony’s in ruins. The reconstruction of Pico’s library is now being carried out in a new research project. This article is a preliminary survey of the medical works listed in the inventories drafted in 1494 and 1498.