GROLIER, JEAN, viscount of AGUISY. — Bibliophile, b. at Lyon in 1479 of an Italian family, d. in 1565. For a long time he was in Italy, from 1510 to 1529, as treasurer of the Duchy of Milan; from 1457 until his death he was general treasurer of the finances of the Kingdom of France.
He formed a substantial library of Latin and Italian writers, of about 3,000 works, and maintained relations with scholars and men of learning of his time. His fame is linked to the many elegant bindings he had made for his books, which constitute one of the most notable experiments in this art form, known precisely as “G.” A manuscript by Marco Moro, who was the first author of his work, “G.,” is bound in this style.
Bibl.: A. J. V. Le Roux de Lincy, Research concerning J. G., his life and his library. With a partial catalogue of his books, ed. by R. Portals and C. Shipman, New York 1907; T. Gottlieb, Groter-Studien, in Jahrbuch der Einbandkunst, 2 (1928), pp. 63-90, with additions by G. D. Hobson, ibid., 3-4 (1931), pp. 61-89; J. Rosenthal, Groter's Bibliothek, in Philobiblon, 6 (1933), pp. 201-14; S. Dahl, Histoire du livre, Paris 1935, pp. 125-29.