n at Modena is still
famous for its illuminated MSS., and for the care bestowed by Muratori
and Tiraboschi in their selection of printed books. The Court of Naples
also might boast of some illustrious bibliophiles. Queen Joanna possessed
one of those small _Livres d'Heures_ of 'microscopic refinement' which
Mr. Middleton has classed among the 'greatest marvels of human skill.'
Rene of Anjou, her unfortunate successor, found a solace for exile in his
books, and showed in a Burgundian prison that he could paint a vellum as
cleverly as a monkish scribe. Alfonso, the next King of Naples, was a
collector in the strictest sense of the term. He would go off to Florence
for bargains, and would even undertake a commission for a book-loving
subject. Antonio Becatelli corresponded on these matters with his royal
master. 'I have the message from Florence that you know of a fine Livy at
the price of 125 crowns: I pray your Majesty to buy it for me and to send
it here, and I will get the money together in the meantime. But I should
like your Majesty's opinion on the point, whether Poggio or myself has
chosen the better part. He has sold Livy, the king of books, written out
by his own hand, to buy an estate near Florence; but I, to get my Livy,
have put up all my property for sale by auction.' The books collected by
Alfonso were at the end of the century carried off by Charles VIII., and
were divided between the Royal Library at Fontainebleau and the separate
collection of Anne of Brittany.

A romantic interest has always attached to the library at Urbino. The
best scholars in Europe used to assemble at the palace, where Duke
Federigo made such a gathering of books 'as had not been seen for a
thousand years,' in the hall where Emilia and the pale Duke Guidubaldo
led the pleasant debates described in the 'Cortegiano.' Federigo, the
most successful general in the Italian wars, had built a palace of
delight in his rude Urbino, in which he hoped to set a copy of every book
in the world. His book-room was adorned with ideal portraits by Piero
della Francesca and Melozzo: it was very large and lofty, 'with windows
set high against the Northern sky.' The catalogue of the books is still
preserved in the Vatican. It shows the names of all the classics, the
Fathers, and the mediaeval schoolmen, many works upon Art, and almost all
the Greek and Hebrew works that were known to exist. Among the more
modern writers we find those whose works we have