Books with Royal Bookplates
Gaston, Duke of Orléans
Gaston, Duke of Orléans (Gaston de France, Gaston d'Orléans; 1608-1660) was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his wife Marie de' Medici, the eldest surviving brother of King Louis XIII. Gaston was a participant and leader of numerous aristocratic conspiracies against the first minister, Cardinal Richelieu. He was the heir presumptive to the throne of France until the birth of Louis XIII's first son in 1638. After the death of Louis XIII, he took an active part in the Fronde, for that he was exiled to Blois in 1652, and died there eight years later. Gaston, Duke of Orléans was noted for his dissipated life, refined taste and passion for collecting.
Ubaldini, Giovanni Battista; Palmieri, Matteo (1406-1475).
Istoria della casa de gli Ubaldini, e de' fatti d'alcuni di quella famiglia. Libro primo Descritta da Giovambatista di Lorenzo Ubaldini. E la vita di Niccola Acciaioli gran siniscalco de' regni di Cicilia, e di Gierusalemme descritta da Matteo Palmieri. E l'origine della famiglia de gli Acciaioli; e i fatti de gli huomini famosi d'essa. — In Firenze : nella stamperia di Bartolommeo Sermartelli, 1588.
4° (146 х 218 mm). The brown leather binding with gold embossing. Gaston, Duke of Orléans' super ex libris — the crowned monogram «GG» is placed on the spine (is established by: OHR, pl. 2560, №5).
Provenance: Załuski, Józef Andrzej (1702-1774) (characteristic notes on the title page); The Imperial Hermitage Foreign Books Library (shelf mark label),
Shelf mark: 33.92.5.50
An intersting example of a super ex libris placed not on the cover of a binding, but on its spine (the crowned monogram «GG»). Before the Imperial Library (the former name of the National Library of Russia), the book from the collection of the Zaluski brothers was kept in the Hermitage for some time, as evidenced by the shelf mark label on the fly leaf. The binding covers the History of the Ubaldini House, written by Giovanni Battista Ubaldini, and the Biography of Niccolò Acciaioli, written by Matteo Palmieri. Both these works were published in one edition in Florence in 1588.
Castiglione, Matteo.
De origine, rebus gestis, ac privilegiis Gentis Castilioneae. Matthaei Castilionei I. C. Commentaria. — Venetijs [Venezia] : apud Joannem Baptistam Hugolinum, 1596.
4° (156 x 226 mm). The brown leather binding with gold embossing. Gaston, Duke of Orléans' super ex libris — the crowned monogram «GG» is placed on the spine (is established by: OHR, pl. 2560, №5).
Shelf mark: 12.12.7.44
The book with the similar binding came to the Imperial Public Library in a different but unknown way. It tells of the history of the Castiglione Family, written by the representative of this noble Milanese family Matteo Castiglione and published in Venice in 1596.
Gualtieri, Giorgio.
Siciliae obiacentium insular[um] et Bruttiorum antiquae tabulae cum animadversionib[us] Georgii Gualtheri. — Messanae [Messina] : apud Petrum Bream, 1624.
4° (152 x 208 mm). The brown leather binding with gold embossing. Gaston, Duke of Orléans' super ex libris — the crowned monogram «GG» is placed on the spine (is established by: OHR, pl. 2560, №5).
Provenance: Pieter Suchtelen (1751-1836) (armorial engraved bookplate an stamp on the back of the title page «Bibliotheca Suchtelen»).
Shelf mark: 12.4.9.77
The book with Gaston, Duke of Orléans' super ex libris on ther spine came to the Imperial Public Library along with the collection of Pieter Suchtelen (1751-1836). This rather rare edition is the publication of epigraphic inscriptions found in Sicily, made by J. Gualteri. The book was published in the Sicilian city of Messina in 1624, so the title page contains triskelion — a motif consisting of a triple spiral, a traditional symbol of Sicily, which still remains.