The Canonici Collection

The manuscript collection of the Venetian Jesuit Matteo Luigi Canonici (Venice 1727-Treviso 1805) was one of the largest in Italy in private hands. It is estimated today that it amounted at the time of his death to around 3000 manuscripts in various languages: Latin, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Aramaic, Yiddish, Arabic and others still. Canonici though cannot be considered a mere collector but rather a shrewd antiquarian dealer with a great passion for collecting rare manuscripts and books but also to yielding them for a fair price. Although unacquainted with the language Canonici did not hesitate to buy Hebrew manuscripts because of his passion for bibles and biblical exegesis. The 118 manuscripts today at the Bodleian Library and his vast correspondence (specially with the Hebraist and University Professor Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi) shed light on possible provenances of these manuscripts, partly from the closure of libraries once belonging to religious houses.