HISTORY

The library was officially opened in 1928 but really originated back in 1883, the year in which Roberto Martelli was elected mayor of Vinci.

This lengthy administrative activity was, in fact, marked by bis constant cultural commitment which hinged on one project in particular: to centre this newfound interest in the scientific and artistic historiography of Leonardo's production around the small Tuscan town and to promote Vinci as a centre far highly specialized study. The cultural climate was indeed favourable: in 1872 Gustavo Uzielli had bis Richerche intorno a Leonardo (Research on Leonardo) printed and the Ministry of Education had edited the publication of Saggio delle opere di Leonardo da Vinci (Essay on works by Leonardo da Vinci). That very same year the monument to Leonardo and his school had been erected in Piazza della Scala in Milan and earlier, in 1869 to be precise, a committee had been set up to erect another monument in Santa Croce in Florenee. Martelli was dogged by difficulties and incomprehension on a local level, but was able to count on the enthusiastic friendship of Giovanni Nencini and, above all, on the support of Gustavo Uzielli, the leading scholar of Vincian research at the time; indeed, it was Uzielli who was to promote the iniziative to found a library in Vinci.

In 1894 the leading Vincian scholars of the period were awarded honorary citizenship of Vinci: Carlo Ravaisson-Mollien, Teodoro Sabachnikoff, Giovanni Piumati, as well as Uzielli himself. The "Vincian Collection" became gradually vaster with complimentary copies of works being sent, almost always with the author's dedication: among these were the Codices of the Institut de France transcribed by Ravaisson-Mollien, the Codex on the Flight of Birds and the anatomical sketches from the Windsor Collections A and B published by Piumati and Sabachnikoff, the basic works by Volynski, Padelletti, Calvi (publisher of the Codex Leicester), Baratta, Beltrami, De Toni and many others, including the splendid edition of the Codex Atlanticus published by Hoepli in eight volumes between 1894 ami 1904. Nowhere, either in Italy or elsewhere, did there exist such an organic collection of works on Leonardo and the birth of a real library was to have had considerable bearing on the Italian and international cultural panorama. However, it was only in 1911, the year of Uzielli's death, that concrete moves were made to lend real lifeblood to the main project. His heirs accepted the proposal made by the Vinci Borough Council to buy the section on Leonardo in the scholar's vast library, even though more advantageous offers were forthcoming (1). However, the collection did then enter to become part of the space and the more articulated structure of a public institution. The first problem was solved yet again by Martelli in 1919 when he succeeded in convincing Count Giulio Masetti de Bagnano to donate the town the castle he owned which had once belonged to the Guidi family and bore their name. This was destined to house a museum dedicated io Leonardo. The restoration work on this building (which dates from the 11 th century) was not carried out till 1934, funded by Count Giovanni Rasini di Castelcampo, but by 1928 Renzo Cianchi and Aldino Baldereschi had begun to work on the library, carrying out an inventory and preparing a general catalogue. Once the restoration work was completed the Library, that until then had been housed in rooms in the Town Hall, was moved to the castle, which was very soon to become one of the main centres for Vincian studies. In 1952 it was at the centre of initiatives for the fifth centenary of Leonardo's birth and in 1961 began the "Letture Vinciane" (Vincian Lectures) which still stand today as a valid contribution to study and research.

During the seventies the Leonardiana was turned into a public reading room and this further widened its activities and in 1983 was transferred to new and more functional premises, leaving the castle entirely to house the Museum, that dates from 1953. On that occasion the Leonardo da Vinci Foundation, which has premises at the institution since 1975, gave the Library a copy of all the works brought out by Giunti, the FIorentine publishers.

Over the years, the Biblioteca Leonardiana has received and continues to receive complimentary copies from authors, publishers and enthusiasts of Leonardo's works: apart from those listed earlier, mention must also be made of the Nino Smiraglia-Scognamiglio collection bought in 1953 (2).