«What began as a hobby became a consuming quest»: il bibliofilo statunitense William Lawrence Clements e la sua collezione di incunaboli
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2283-9364/13070Parole chiave:
Storia del collezionismo, Cataloghi d'asta, Storia delle biblioteche, Incunaboli, MEI, AmericanaAbstract
Il presente contributo intende descrivere l’attività di bibliofilo di William Lawrence Clements, industriale statunitense fra i maggiori collezionisti del XX secolo. Attivo negli anni della golden age del collezionismo librario mondiale, egli riuscì a costituire una collezione libraria specializzata in storia americana senza precedenti nel Midwest degli Stati Uniti d’America. Attraverso lo studio della collezione di incunaboli custoditi presso la William L. Clements Library è stato possibile, non solo ricostruire la storia dei singoli esemplari, ma anche l’ambiente culturale in cui William Clements operò. Venduti da case d’asta o da singoli mercanti d’arte e di libri antichi, attivi fra la fine del XIX e i primi decenni del XX secolo, gli incunaboli appartennero a collezioni private prestigiose e conservano al loro interno tracce di provenienza fondamentali per ricostruirne il percorso. Dall’analisi di ex libris, note di possesso, legature, timbri, segni d’uso e note manoscritte, si è ricostruito il percorso compiuto da questi esemplari nel corso dei secoli, spostandosi dall’Europa all’America.
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