Book Review: Bessarion Scholasticus, by John Monfasani (Brepols, 2012)
Note: this book review was originally published on 7 July 2024, on my Substack newsletter, The Traveller’s Literary Supplicant. The full version is available to paid subscribers; see link below to continue to the article.
By Christopher Deliso
Context: In 1468, the Greek Cardinal Bessarion (1403-1472) willed his massive library, of over 1,100 Greek and Latin manuscripts to the Venetian Republic. Forming the basis of Venice’s Bibliotheca Marciana, Bessarion’s gift ensured that his three decades of manuscript collection, copying and commissions would be saved for posterity. Bessarion’s gift constitutes one of the single most important events in the progress of Western Humanism, and indeed, in the preservation of Byzantine manuscripts—including the preservation of important ancient texts that would have otherwise been lost.
John Monfasani, ‘Bessarion Scholasticus’: A Study of Cardinal Bessarion’s Latin Library (Brepols, 2012), 306pp.
John Monfasani has long been among the world’s foremost experts on Bessarion and the intellectual history of the Byzantine-Italian transfer of knowledge. He is SUNY-Albany Emeritus Professor of History, and author of many important works (see his webpage here). I have enjoyed his work since 1999, when it provided an invaluable resource, while researching my own MPhil thesis on Bessarion’s teacher, the 15th-century Byzantine philosopher, Georgios Gemistos Plethon (more on the latter another day).
To continue reading, subscribe to The Traveller’s Literary Supplicant on Substack.