GROLIER, Jean, Viscount of Aiguisy. - Bibliophile, b. in Lyon in 1479 to an Italian family, d. in 1565. He was for a long time in Italy, from 1510 to 1529, as treasurer of the Duchy of Milan; from 1457 until his death he was treasurer general of the finances of the Kingdom of France.
He formed a notable library of Latin and Italian writers, of about 3000 works, and maintained relations with the men of letters and scholars of his time. His fame is linked to the many elegant bindings that he had made for his books and that constitute one of the most remarkable experiments in this form of art, called precisely "G." These are bindings in morocco whose covers bear geometric ornaments (rectilinear, rectangular, rhomboid, curved) with various floral and symmetrical interlacements, variously colored, at first simple then increasingly rich and showy; at the center or at the foot of the front cover they bear stamped in gold the phrase "Io. Grolierii et amicorum". The G. Library was sold and dispersed in 1676; of its bindings more than 600 examples are known today, existing in public and private collections.
Bibliography4 worksA. J. V. Le Roux de Lincq, Researches concerning J. G., his life and his library. With a partial catalogue of his books, edited by R. Portal
BIBL.: A. J. V. Le Roux de Lincq, Researches concerning J. G., his life and his library. With a partial catalogue of his books, edited by R. Portalis and C. Shipman, New York 1907; T. Gottlieb, Grolier-Studien, in Jahrbuch der Einbandkunst, 2 (1928), pp. 63-99, with additions by G. D. Hobson, ibid., 3-4 (1931), pp. 61-89; J. Rosenthal, Grolier's Bibliothek, in Philobalon, 6 (1935), pp. 201-14; S. Dahl, Histoire du livre, Paris 1935, pp. 125-29.
Avanzi, Giannetto. “Grolier, jean, visconte d'aiguisy.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, coll. 1175–1176. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951. https://azioneromana.com/article/grolier-jean-visconte-d-aiguisy.
MLA
Avanzi, Giannetto. “Grolier, jean, visconte d'aiguisy.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951, coll. 1175–1176. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/grolier-jean-visconte-d-aiguisy.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec6_grolier_jean_visconte_d_aiguis,
author = {Avanzi, Giannetto},
title = {Grolier, jean, visconte d'aiguisy},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VI},
pages = {1175--1176},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1951},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/grolier-jean-visconte-d-aiguisy}
}
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