PADRE MARTINI, GAETANO GASPARI AND THE ‘PAGLIARINI COLLECTION’: A RENAISSANCE MUSIC LIBRARY REDISCOVERED

A substantial collection of Cinque- and Seicento prints lies hidden in the Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica in Bologna. Practically unknown to scholars, at 274 titles it is among the largest collections dating from the Renaissance. The fortunate series of events that account for its survival are retraced, beginning with its formation c. 1580 and its purchase by Padre Giambattista Martini (1706–84) from the Pagliarini booksellers in Rome with the aid of Girolamo Chiti, and ending with its partial dispersion in the nineteenth century. A complete index of the collection is included, together with a list of the unica.