MAIOLI, TOMMASO. - Italianized name of the bibliophile Thomas Mahieu, secretary to Catherine de' Medici from 1549 to 1560, d. around 1572, about whom more firmly established biographical data are lacking.

According to a commonly accepted opinion, a group of bindings executed in France belonged to M., contemporary with and similar to the very well crafted Grolier bindings (v.). G. D. Hobson describes nearly a hundred of them, divided into seven groups; they cover for the most part Latin works and, in smaller number, Italian works; they often bear on the covers, stamped in gold, the inscription «Tho. Maioli et amicorum», and also other mottoes and monograms. Together with the Grolier bindings they constitute the most valuable type of 16th-century binding.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: G. D. Hobson, M., Canevari and others, London 1926, pp. 37-111; S. De Ricci, Les reliures dites «M.», in Académie des inscriptions et belles lettres. Comptes rendus des séances, 1926, pp. 177-81; H. Loubier, Der wahre M., in Archiv für Buchbinderlei, 28 (1928), pp. 49-59.

Giannetto Avanzi

@incollection{ec7_maioli_tomaso, author = {Avanzi, Giannetto}, title = {Maioli, tomaso}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VII}, pages = {1861}, 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/maioli-tomaso} }

One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.

Maioli, Tommaso

About this entry