On the flight of the reigning family the 'Medici books' were bought by
the Dominicans at St. Mark's; and they rested for some years in
Savonarola's home, stored in the gallery which holds the great
choir-books illuminated by Fra Angelico and his companions. In the year
1508 the monks were in pecuniary distress, and were forced to sell the
books to Leo X., then Cardinal de' Medici. He took them to Rome to ensure
their safety, but was always careful to keep them apart from the official
assemblage in the Vatican; it is certain that he would have restored them
to Florence, if he had lived a short time longer. The patriotic design
was carried out by Clement VII., another member of that book-loving
family, and their hereditary treasures at last found a permanent home in
the gallery designed by Michelangelo.
The 'Medici books' were catalogued by a humble bell-ringer, who lived to
be a chief figure in the literary world. Thomas of Sarzana performed the
task so well that his system became a model for librarians. While
travelling in attendance on a Legate, the future Pope could never refrain
from expensive purchases; to own books, we are told, was his ambition,
'his pride, his pleasure, passion, and avarice'; and he was only saved
from ruin by the constant help of his friends. When he succeeded to the
tiara as Pope Nicholas V., his influence was felt through Christendom as
a new literary force. He encouraged research at home, and gathered the
records of antiquity from the ruined cities of the East, and 'the darkest
monasteries of Germany and Britain.
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