The sale of Italian books in Madrid during the reign of Felipe II : Simone Vassalini's catalogue (1597)

In 1597 in Madrid, the bookseller Simone Vassalini printed what is considered to be the earliest known example of a printed book sale catalogue published in Spain, the Index librorum. The only remaining copy, which once formed part of the private library of the Sardinian jurist Monserrat Rosselló, lists the titles of 875 printed books. Of these, 77.83% are works in Latin and 20.11% are Italian books. The catalogue also lists works in Arabic, Greek and Hebrew. Of all the books, 90.5% were printed in Italy and 69.3% were printed in the Republic of Venice. The main subjects are law, religion, medicine, history, humanities and sciences, although the list also features Italian literary texts and poetry anthologies, which would have been particularly popular in sixteenth-century Spain. [Publisher's text]

Nel 1597 fu pubblicato a Madrid l'Index librorum del libraio Simone Vassalini. Si tratta del primo catalogo di vendita di libri pubblicato in Spagna finora noto. Il documento è conservato in un'unica copia, che apparteneva alla collezione del giurista sardo Monserrat Rosselló. Il catalogo comprendeva 875 edizioni, di cui la maggior parte in latino (77,83%) e italiano (20,11%), accanto ad alcuni titoli in arabo, greco ed ebraico. Nell'elenco figurano molti libri stampati in Italia (90,5%), provenienti per lo più dalla Repubblica di Venezia (il 69,3% del totale dei titoli). È un catalogo di vendita di libri di importazione che include numerose opere di giurisprudenza, religione, medicina, storia, dottrine umanistiche e scienza, con una ragguardevole selezione di opere letterarie italiane in prosa e raccolte poetiche di notevole successo in Spagna. [Testo dell'editore]

In 1597 in Madrid, the bookseller Simone Vassalini printed what is considered to be the earliest known example of a printed book sale catalogue published in Spain, the Index librorum. The only remaining copy, which once formed part of the private library of the Sardinian jurist Monserrat Rosselló, lists the titles of 875 printed books. Of these, 77.83% are works in Latin and 20.11% are Italian books. The catalogue also lists works in Arabic, Greek and Hebrew. Of all the books, 90.5% were printed in Italy and 69.3% were printed in the Republic of Venice. The main subjects are law, religion, medicine, history, humanities and sciences, although the list also features Italian literary texts and poetry anthologies, which would have been particularly popular in sixteenth-century Spain. [Texto de la editorial]