MAIOLI, TOMASO. — Italianized name of the bibliophile THOMAS MAHIEU, secretary to Catherine de’ Medici from 1549 to 1560, who died around 1572 and on whom more precise biographical data is lacking.
According to a commonly accepted opinion, a group of bindings executed in France, contemporary with and similar to the Grolier bindings (v.), are attributed to M. These are described by G. D. Hobson as nearly a hundred, divided into seven groups; they mostly cover Latin works and, to a lesser extent, Italian works; they often bear on the covers, impressed in gold, the inscription “Tho. Maioli et amicorum,” as well as other mottos and monograms. Together with the Grolier bindings, they constitute the most esteemed type of bindings of the 16th century.