The catalogues of the library, compiled by
Antonio Maria Zanetti and Antonio Bongiovanni and published in 1740 and 1741
The collection of the
Marciana Library contains 4,639 manuscripts and 13,117 manuscript volumes.[1] Its historical nucleus is the private collection of Cardinal
Bessarion, which was donated to the Republic of Venice in 1468.
Manuscripts
Some significant manuscripts in the collection include:
Gr. Z. 388 (=333):
Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis by Ptolemy with 27 map projections, commissioned by Bessarion and attributed to
John Rhosos (fifteenth century)[2]
Gr. Z. 395 (=921): Romaiki istoria by
Cassius Dio, the oldest manuscript containing Books XLIV, 35, 4–LX, 28, 3 (ninth century)
Gr. Z. 479 (=881): Cynegetica by
Oppian of Apamea and Vita Oppiani by
Constantine Manasses, the oldest illustrated version with 150 miniatures (eleventh century)[4]
Lat. Z. 549 (=1597): "Codex Cumanicus", handbook of the Cuman language for missionaries with glossaries and a collection of religious texts, linguistic data, and folkloric materials (fourteenth century)[8]on-line
There are some important music manuscripts. The composers represented include:
Francesco Cavalli operas (from the collection of mostly Venetian opera manuscripts amassed by Marco Contarini, which was donated to the Biblioteca Marciana in 1843).[16] Works include La Calisto (1651) and Erismena (1655, 1670).[17]
^Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 122. For a description of the codex, see the exhibition catalog Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2013), pp. 17–19,
ISBN0642278091.
^For a discussion, see The Codex Cumanicus in Peter B. Golden, ed.,Studies on the peoples and cultures of the Eurasian steppes (Bucharest: Academiei Române, 2011), pp. 333–366,
ISBN9732721529.
Labowsky, Lotte, Bessarion's Library and the Biblioteca Marciana, Six Early Inventories (Rome: Storia e Letteratura, 1979)
ISBN9788884985699
Raines, Dorit, 'Book Museum or Scholarly Library? The ‘Libreria di San Marco’ in a Republican Context', Ateneo veneto, CXCVII, terza serie, 9/II (2010), 31–50 (
ISSN0004-6558)
Zanetti, Antonio Maria, ed., Græca D. Marci Bibliotheca codicum manu scriptorum per titulos digesta (Venetiis: Casparis Ghirardi & Simonem Occhi, 1740)
Zanetti, Antonio Maria, ed., Latina et italica D. Marci Bibliotheca codicum manu scriptorum per titulos digesta (Venetiis: Casparis Ghirardi & Simonem Occhi, 1741)
Zorzi, Marino, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia (Firenze: Nardini, 1988)
ISBN8840410031
The catalogues of the library, compiled by
Antonio Maria Zanetti and Antonio Bongiovanni and published in 1740 and 1741
The collection of the
Marciana Library contains 4,639 manuscripts and 13,117 manuscript volumes.[1] Its historical nucleus is the private collection of Cardinal
Bessarion, which was donated to the Republic of Venice in 1468.
Manuscripts
Some significant manuscripts in the collection include:
Gr. Z. 388 (=333):
Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis by Ptolemy with 27 map projections, commissioned by Bessarion and attributed to
John Rhosos (fifteenth century)[2]
Gr. Z. 395 (=921): Romaiki istoria by
Cassius Dio, the oldest manuscript containing Books XLIV, 35, 4–LX, 28, 3 (ninth century)
Gr. Z. 479 (=881): Cynegetica by
Oppian of Apamea and Vita Oppiani by
Constantine Manasses, the oldest illustrated version with 150 miniatures (eleventh century)[4]
Lat. Z. 549 (=1597): "Codex Cumanicus", handbook of the Cuman language for missionaries with glossaries and a collection of religious texts, linguistic data, and folkloric materials (fourteenth century)[8]on-line
There are some important music manuscripts. The composers represented include:
Francesco Cavalli operas (from the collection of mostly Venetian opera manuscripts amassed by Marco Contarini, which was donated to the Biblioteca Marciana in 1843).[16] Works include La Calisto (1651) and Erismena (1655, 1670).[17]
^Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 122. For a description of the codex, see the exhibition catalog Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2013), pp. 17–19,
ISBN0642278091.
^For a discussion, see The Codex Cumanicus in Peter B. Golden, ed.,Studies on the peoples and cultures of the Eurasian steppes (Bucharest: Academiei Române, 2011), pp. 333–366,
ISBN9732721529.
Labowsky, Lotte, Bessarion's Library and the Biblioteca Marciana, Six Early Inventories (Rome: Storia e Letteratura, 1979)
ISBN9788884985699
Raines, Dorit, 'Book Museum or Scholarly Library? The ‘Libreria di San Marco’ in a Republican Context', Ateneo veneto, CXCVII, terza serie, 9/II (2010), 31–50 (
ISSN0004-6558)
Zanetti, Antonio Maria, ed., Græca D. Marci Bibliotheca codicum manu scriptorum per titulos digesta (Venetiis: Casparis Ghirardi & Simonem Occhi, 1740)
Zanetti, Antonio Maria, ed., Latina et italica D. Marci Bibliotheca codicum manu scriptorum per titulos digesta (Venetiis: Casparis Ghirardi & Simonem Occhi, 1741)
Zorzi, Marino, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia (Firenze: Nardini, 1988)
ISBN8840410031