Abstract
The early modern period was a pivotal moment in European engagement with the diverse literary traditions of the Islamicate world, and the languages transmitting them. Scholars, collectors, and printers actively sought after manuscripts from these regions, each of them pursuing different objectives and using various channels within a well-established network of contacts.
Some of the most important historical libraries in Florence preserve traces of these focused bibliographic searches, as witnessed by their rich collections of manuscripts in Arabic-script. A significant portion of the “Orientali” manuscript collections at the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana and the Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze can be linked to the activities of the Typographia Medicea Linguarum Externarum (Rome, 1584–1614), a printing press that aimed at publishing works in non-Latin scripts with movable types. Some editions were specifically tailored around the Eastern market, seeking to create a new trade area for printed books. The Press relied on various channels to acquire manuscripts, which were central to its cultural, religious, and commercial objectives. Their acquisitions continued for at least three decades thanks to collaborations with various figures from the East (prelates, neophytes) and European merchants and diplomats. Another important manuscript collection, now housed at the Biblioteca Riccardiana, includes the manuscripts that the physician Alessandro Pini acquired in Egypt in 1681 for the Florentine grand-ducal library, under the supervision of the physician Francesco Redi. Pini’s allegedly lost manuscripts eventually arrived in Florence, though not in the hands of his patrons, and show signs of how his limited knowledge of the language made him an easy target for unscrupulous booksellers.
By examining the codicological features of the extant manuscripts (such as bindings, ownership marks, and other paratextual annotations), alongside contemporary documentary sources (including book lists, correspondence, and travel accounts), this paper will explore the origins of these manuscripts, the ways of their acquisition, and the market strategies employed by both parties involved in the transactions.
