Author:Ross King
'A marvel of storytelling and a masterclass in the history of the book' WALL STREET JOURNAL
The Renaissance in Florence conjures images of beautiful frescoes and elegant buildings - the dazzling handiwork of the city's artists and architects. But equally important were geniuses of another kind: Florence's manuscript hunters, scribes, scholars and booksellers. At a time where all books were made by hand, these people helped imagine a new and enlightened world.
At the heart of this activity was a remarkable bookseller: Vespasiano da Bisticci. His books were works of art in their own right, copied by talented scribes and illuminated by the finest miniaturists. With a client list that included popes and royalty, Vespasiano became the 'king of the world's booksellers'. But by 1480 a new invention had appeared: the printed book, and Europe's most prolific merchant of knowledge faced a formidable new challenge.
'A spectacular life of the book trade's Renaissance man' JOHN CAREY, SUNDAY TIMES
If you want to celebrate the place that bookmaking and bookselling still have in our lives . . . immerse yourself in Ross King's rich history of Vespasiano da Bisticci, "the king of the world's booksellers," in 15th-century Florence . . . wonderful
—— Simon Schama , New York TimesExcellent . . . a fascinating read . . . Though ostensibly a biography of Vespasiano, he is less the book's subject than its method: a window on to the intellectual, political and technological developments of a time in radical ferment . . . entertaining, witty and expert
—— Tim Smith-Laing , Daily TelegraphA brilliant narrative that seamlessly weaves together intellectual debate, technological exploration and the excitement of new ways of thinking about ethics, politics and human capability
—— Rowan WilliamsA terrific and utterly absorbing read, full of narrative pace and remarkable breadth and depth of scholarship. It deserves to make the bestseller lists . . . I haven't enjoyed a history book as much for years
—— John GuyThe Bookseller of Florence is a way of entering the world of Renaissance humanism and its fascination with the writings of the past at a time when these were still - but not for much longer - handwritten
—— Charles Saumarez Smith , OldieA spectacular life of the book trade's Renaissance man . . . King's supreme ability is to imagine himself into the past . . . The scope of his knowledge is staggering
—— John Carey , Sunday TimesThe Bookseller of Florence does for books what Ross King did for the art of Brunelleschi, Leonardo and Michelangelo: it conjures a vivid, lost world of manuscripts and learning. Written with an exquisite touch and enviable flair, King has written a book in defence of the pursuit of knowledge that's needed today more than ever
—— Jerry Brotton, author of A History of the World in Twelve MapsA marvel of storytelling and a master class in the history of the book. The Bookseller of Florence is a dazzling, instructive and highly entertaining book, worthy of the great bookseller it celebrates
—— Ernest Hilbert , Wall Street JournalIn the mid-fifteenth-century it must have seemed as if all the wisdom of the world was distilled into a single street in Florence. In this deft, sparkling book, Ross King reanimates the Street of Booksellers and the life of its most fascinating figure: Vespasiano da Bisticci
—— Peter Moore, author of Endeavour: The Ship and the Attitude that Changed the WorldA beautifully constructed work of popular scholarship, at once celebratory and elegiac. Ross King skilfully illuminates the career, interests and connections of a fifteenth-century maker of manuscript books, and in the process paints a compelling picture of Florence in the age of the Medici, and of the fascinating, fractured world of the European Renaissance, in the decades witnessing the final fall of the Byzantine Empire and the fateful appearance of the new technology of print
—— Peter Marshall, author of Heretics and Believers: A History of the English ReformationMagnificent . . . King's meticulous research provides an immersive reading experience as he expertly weaves the political intrigue of families vying for power and currying favour with the pope into a riveting intellectual history covering the evolution of books, Renaissance Italy, classical philosophy and literature, and the invention of the printing press. A profoundly engaging study of a time when books were considered essential to a meaningful life, and knowledge and wisdom were cherished as ends in themselves
—— Bill Kelly , BooklistIn this fascinating biography, King weaves Vespasiano's story into the fabric of the tumultuous times in which he lived . . . The result is a narrative about a man and his books, and so much more, including the origins and history of the Frankfurt Book Fair and the influence of Johannes Gutenberg and his printing press on the arc of history
—— Linda Frederiksen , Library JournalThe Bookseller of Florence is a delight, a popular history that makes the complexities of the past understandable... [an] enthralling book
—— Sarah Dunant , Literary ReviewPersonal and brimming with anecdotes ...Porter explores the intrinsic connections between artists and their choice of clothing with agility, nuance and insatiable curiosity... His diverse curatorial eye holds both geographic and historical breadth
—— Dan Thawley , A Magazine Curated ByA clarion call to examine not only the clothes of artists but also our own
—— The Art NewspaperUnexpected, lushly illustrated ... As a connoisseur of the lived-in, Porter delights at Lee Krasner's paint-spattered slippers and the tactile richness of Alberto Giacometti's rumpled suit
—— Hettie Judah , V&A MagazineAs he cycles through the lives of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sarah Lucas, Martine Syms, and Joseph Beuys, Porter's deep dive is a tender report on the legacies we leave behind and the clothes that accompany us along the way.
—— Dazed Books of the YearInquisitive and insightful, Porter's skillful dissection of the historical context, social commentary, and personal symbolism behind each artist is a pleasure to get lost in
—— Publishers WeeklyUnique, wide-ranging... Style guru Charlie Porter takes us on a voyage of discovery
—— Creative BoomPorter captures the various 'archetypes' associated with artists. He emphasises the shift from the 'codification of patriarchy to the breaking of the canon
—— Araba Opoku , The Art NewspaperClothes can be a prison. But Porter makes a powerful argument that they offer freedom too, to work against the structures "that control what we all wear"
—— En Liang Khong , Times Literary SupplementDe Waal's gentle and thoughtful probing is persuasive and his exploration of the family history after the count's death in 1935 - especially the deaths of family members under the Nazis - is both poignant and unforced
—— Michael Prodger , New StatesmanThe form of a series of letters to Camondo... [is] an inspired idea, for it allows de Waal to achieve an intimacy of tone and directness of expression... a powerful address that is both a rupture with and a binding to all that precedes it
—— Laurel Berger , SpectatorA fascinating portrait of the French collector Count Moise de Camondo
—— A Little Bird, *Summer Reads of 2021*Outsider art requires outsider biography, and Blackburn, an expert in finding new forms to fit odd lives, has managed her task magnificently.
—— Kathryn Hughes , GuardianBeautifully delicate.
—— Big IssueRichly satisfying.
—— Charlotte Heathcote , Sunday ExpressA gorgeous, dreamy quest, for a man named John Craske.
—— Rose George , New StatesmanThe book has an understated charm and is a beautifully rendered portrait of an artist’s life and landscape.
—— Ian Critchley , Sunday TimesThis tender biography is gossipy and philosophical by turns.
—— Daily TelegraphExecuted with undeniable skill and the sense of an intimate acquaintance with life on the open seas.
—— Herald ScotlandUnusually moving.
—— William Leith , Evening Standard