Abstract

The first inventory of the Este library, dated 1436, has hitherto been considered to be a list of the books of Nicholas III, the reigning marquis at that date. But careful consideration of remarks in the catalogue entries about the script of the MSS and the presence of coats-of-arms and emblems leads to the conclusion that not a few of the MSS are older; in particular, on the basis of the emblems some of them will have been in the possession of Nicholas II (1361-88). The cultural pursuits of this marquis, assisted by collaboration with Benvenuto da Imola and Donato Albanzani (taking account of the redating proposed for his translations into the vernacular) turn out to be of fundamental importance for the formation of the court library in the second half of the 14th century.