The collection contains some great rarities, like the Piedra gloriosa by Menasseh Ben Israel of 1655 with its four etchings by Rembrandt, only six copies of which are known, or the 1602 edition of Georgette de Montenay’s Emblatvm christianorvm centvria, containing a handwritten Dutch translation by Anna Roemers Visscher. In choosing the copies much attention was given to the bindings, which are often the original ones, and to their provenances. A copy of Karel van Mander’s Schilder-boeck of 1604 was once owned by the Frisian painter Wybrand de Geest, just like Francesco da Barberino’s Docvmenti d’amore of 1640 was presented to Nicolas Poussin by Pope Urban VIII in a binding decorated with bees, the symbol of the Barberini family.
The collection contains some great rarities, like the Piedra gloriosa by Menasseh Ben Israel of 1655 with its four etchings by Rembrandt, only six copies of which are known, or the 1602 edition of Georgette de Montenay’s Emblatvm christianorvm centvria, containing a handwritten Dutch translation by Anna Roemers Visscher. In choosing the copies much attention was given to the bindings, which are often the original ones, and to their provenances. A copy of Karel van Mander’s Schilder-boeck of 1604 was once owned by the Frisian painter Wybrand de Geest, just like Francesco da Barberino’s Docvmenti d’amore of 1640 was presented to Nicolas Poussin by Pope Urban VIII in a binding decorated with bees, the symbol of the Barberini family.