Vaticano

PAULI II. VENETI, PONT. MAX. VITA Ex Codice Angelicae Bibliothecae Desumpta / Praemissis Ipsius Sanctissimi Pontificis Vindiciis / Adversus Platinam, aliosque obtrectatores.

1740 — pp. [4], lxxxviii, [4], 288 + Engraved plate of medals + a powerful engraved plate showing a Vatican church alter with Paul's effigies. Text slightly foxed in places. 4to. 25 cm. Decorative sprinkled edges. Contemporary full vellum binding. A very fine copy, formerly in the collection of Phyllis Goodhart Gordon. This biography and study of Pope Paul II as a collector ans scholar, was written by Michael Canensius (d. 1480). It was prepared for publication and expanded by Cardinal Angelo Maria Quirini. Pope Paul II [Pietro Barbo] was born at Venice. Although he studied for a business career he r eceived an excellent religious education and, at the elevation of his uncle (Eugene IV) to the papacy, entered the Ecclesiastical State. He became Archdeacon of Bologna, Bishop of Cervia and of Vicenz a, and in 1440 Cardinal-deacon. Noted for his generosity and imposing appearance, the Cardinal of Venice, as he was called, was very influential under Eugene IV, Nicholas V, and Calixtus III, less so under Pius II. He became the latter's successor. Paul II delighted in display. He introduced splendid carnival festivities, built the palace of S. Marco (now di Venezia), revised the municipal statute s of Rome, organized relief work among the poor, granted pensions to some Cardinals, and to all the privilege of wearing the red biretta. His suppression in 1466 of the college of abbreviators aroused much opposition, intensified by a similar measure against the Roman Academy. Platina, a member of both organizations, who had been repeatedly imprisoned, retaliated by writing a calumnious biography of Paul II. That Paul II was not opposed to Humanistic studies, as such, is evidenced by the fact that he protected universities, encouraged the art of printing, and was himself a collector of works of ancient art. The pope punished the Fraticelli in the Papal States, prosecuted heretics in France and Germany, decreed in 1470 the observance of the jubilee every twenty-five years, and made an unsuccessful attempt at uniting Russia with the Church. The Turkish question received his earnest attention, particularly after the fall of Negropont (1470). This book documents many of Paul II's bibliographic, typographic, and scholarly works and treasures. Very Scarce. **PRICE JUST REDUCED! W113