Ranuzzi Family: A Preliminary Inventory of Their Manuscripts at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center



	Creator:	Ranuzzi Family
	Title:	Ranuzzi Family Manuscripts
	Dates:	ca. 1450-1755
	Abstract:	This collection contains manuscripts, printed materials, scribal copies of books, more than 100 engravings, etchings, woodcuts, and watercolor sketches, and papal bulls documenting some 400 years of the political, religious, and cultural climate of Bologna, Italy. Major subjects included in the collection are history, literature, the sciences, church and government affairs, law, geography, and numismatics.
	Extent:	623 bound volumes, 4 oversize folders
	Repository:	Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin

Scope and Contents

In 1968 the Ransom Center purchased 620 volumes of manuscripts and printed matter collected by the Ranuzzi family of Bologna, Italy, that reflect some 400 years of Bolognese political, religious, and cultural life. While the collection dates from a group of medical manuscripts gathered by Antonio Ranuzzi, a physician and scholar, it was Count Vincenzo Antonio Ranuzzi (1658-1726) who was largely responsible for the formation of the Ranuzzi Library.

Through the influence of his grandfather, the Marquis Ferdinando Cospi, who spent the major part of his life at the court of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, Count Ranuzzi was received in 1671 as a Page to Prince Ferdinand de Medici. During the following six years Count Ranuzzi was educated in the sciences and humanities, enjoyed the company of learned and famous men, and began to collect manuscripts, mainly literary in nature or written to celebrate events occurring at the time. At the close of the seventeenth century, events in Europe influenced Count Ranuzzi to turn his attention to historical papers. Manuscripts on fortifications and firearms, on the Turkish wars, the capture of Buda in 1687, and the capture of Cyprus and Morea were added during the 1690s.

In 1689 Count Ranuzzi's uncle, Cardinal Angelo Ranuzzi, Archbishop of Fano, Nuncio at the court of Louis XIV, and papal Legate to Poland, died en route to Rome to attend the conclave where he was expected to be elected Pope. The large library that Cardinal Ranuzzi accumulated was left to his nephew. It included papers concerning the history of the Church and letters that he had written from France and Poland, in which he described the political situations in those countries and their relations with the Italian states.

From 1706 until his death in 1726, Count Ranuzzi's major goal was to increase his holdings of books and manuscripts and to catalog both the library and the family archives. In addition to the manuscripts left by members of his family, Count Ranuzzi acquired others from his friend Francesco Antonio Ghiselli, Canon of San Petronio and a renowned historian of Bologna. Most of the Ghiselli manuscripts concern the history of Bologna and its relations with several European countries and their histories. These manuscripts also contain a large number of French works translated into Italian, especially plays of the seventeenth-century authors Racine, Corneille, and Moliere.

With the French occupation in 1797, the Ranuzzi family fortunes and power suffered a setback. This decline, followed by the sale of the Ranuzzi palace in 1822, resulted in the dispersal of the Ranuzzi library that culminated in 1847 with the sale of some 800 volumes to the English booksellers John Payne and Henry Foss. In London the Ranuzzi manuscripts were offered to Sir Thomas Phillipps, but before he could decide on the acquisition, the British Museum bought 117 volumes. A further 72 volumes are in the State Archives in Bologna. The remaining portion of the collection was purchased by Phillipps, from which it passed to the booksellers William H. Robinson, Inc., and in turn was offered for sale en bloc at Sotheby's in London on 25 June 1968 by the Robinson trust.

The 620 volumes in the Ransom Center include manuscripts; printed materials; scribal copies of books; more than 100 engravings, etchings, woodcuts, and watercolor sketches; and papal bulls, totaling 5,354 manuscripts with an average of 200 leaves each. Major subjects include history, literature, the sciences, church and government affairs, law, geography, and numismatics. The volumes are arranged by their original Phillipps number, which span Ph 12467 to Ph 21964. Some volumes do not represent single manuscripts, but rather consist of a number of miscellaneous manuscripts bound together. Three appendices further detail the contents of three groups of these miscellaneous volumes: Ph 12705 - 12738; Ph 12739 - 12748; and Ph 12807 - 12890.

An exhibition of a selection of the Ranuzzi manuscripts was presented in the Peter Flawn Academic Center from March through September 1980 and at the M.D. Anderson Library, the University of Houston, in October 1981. The exhibition and catalogue were prepared by Maria Xenia Zevelechi Wells, Curator of the Italian Collections in the Ransom Center. For further information, see:

Wells, Maria Xenia Zevelechi.
- The Ranuzzi Manuscripts. Austin: Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, 1980.
- "A Flourish of Pyres."FMR (International English Edition) 73 (April, 1995): 114-125.

Abbreviations Used in the List

A--Autograph
T--Typed
S--Signed
I--Initialed
Ms--Manuscript
Mss--Manuscripts
L--Letter
FL--Form Letter
N--Note
D--Document
C--Card
PC--Post Card
cc--Carbon Copy
p--Page
pp--Pages
nd--No date
inc d--Incomplete date

The symbols above are used in combinations: ALS means autograph letter signed; Tccms means typed carbon copy manuscript, etc.

Square brackets are used to indicate that the information is supplied from some source other than the manuscript itself.

Return to the Table of Contents

Restrictions

Access:

Open for research

Return to the Table of Contents

Administrative Information

Acquisition:

Purchase, 1968

Processed by:

Maria X. Wells and John Kirkpatrick. The information in this finding aid was originally contained in a card catalog and two supplementary typescripts. These were scanned and edited into this form by Debbie Guidry and Joan Sibley.

Return to the Table of Contents

Ranuzzi Family Manuscripts--List

Catholic Church. Pope.

Volume

Ph 12467

Acta Sacri Concistori coram Alex Pap. VI et success. pontific. usq. ad Urbanum Pap. VIII ab anno 1498 usque ad annu 1644. Ams/copy [folio, 271 leaves], nd.

Bound in vellum.

Volume

Ph 12468

Acta Pontificum a Sancto Petro usque ad Sixtum Quintum ab anno 37, usq. ad 1585. Ams/copy [folio, 135 leaves], nd.

Bound in vellum.

Return to the Table of Contents

Agocchi, Giovanni Battista, Abp. of Amasia, 1570-1632

Volume

Ph 12472

Lettere varie di Mons. Agocchia, Segr. di Stato di Greg. XV senza alcuno ordine ma degli anni che vi vedrai e son scritte a varij prelati, Card.li et altri spettanti a Interessi della Santa Sede. 39 AL/copies [quarto, 139 leaves], nd.

One letter incomplete. Dates of letters from 1623-1627. Bound in vellum.

Volume

Ph 12473

Instrutioni e lettere di Mons. Agocchi, Seg.rio di Stato della Santità di Gregorio XV alla nobilissima famiglia de Lodovisi, bolognese, con alcune lettere scritte di proprio pugno di Sua Santità, Rome. Ams/copy [folio, 213 leaves], 1621-1623,nd.

Bound in calf with gilt ruling.

Volume

Ph 12476

Vita di Gironimo Agocchi, Cardinale di S. Pietro in Vincoli... Ams/copy [folio, 38 leaves], nd.

Bound in paper covered boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12477

Albergati, Fabio, Modo di ridurre a pace le inimicizie private di Fabio Albergati in qualche parte diverso dal libro stampato da esso autore su tale materia. Ams/copy [folio, 168 leaves], ca 1550-1605.nd.

Book printed in 1503, in Rome

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12479

[Bronzino, Angelo], Rime di Cristofano Allori detto il Bronzino, pittore fiorentino. Ams/copy [folio, 205 leaves], 1502-1572.nd.

Bound in calf, with leather label on spine with gilt lettering. Poems by Angelo Allori, called Il Bronzino, not by his great nephew Cristofano Allori, as the title indicates.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12480

Ghiselli, Antonio Francesco, comp. Relatione delle nascite e fortune del Cardinale Altieri de suoi intrighi per li parentadi della sua casa degli ostacoli portati per la promotione de Cardinali ad instanza delle Corone e di tutto quello che successe con gli Ambasciatori delle corone per le Franchigie... Ams/copy [folio, 588 leaves], 1670-1730,nd.

Ghiselli Arms. Bound in quarter vellum with paper covered boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12481

Amayden, Theodoro, fl. Notizie delle famiglie romane copiate dell' originale del Signor Theodoro Amayden, fìamingo da Bolduc et avvocato in Roma. Ams/copy [folio, 498 leaves], 17th cent.1684.

The original manuscript is in Bologna in Conte Valerio Zani's library. List of Roman families at beginning, 6 leaves. Bound in calf with gilt ruling.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12483

Composizioni poetiche su la vita e varij miracoli di S. Antonio di Padova nel 1668. Ams/copy? [folio, 89 leaves], [1668?].

Note written after most poems: "Omnia correcta [or] amendata 26 Junij 1668." Bound in paper covered boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12484

Avenali, Evangelista, alias Dominici. Croniche dell' antichissima città d'Imola. Ams/copy [folio, 124 leaves], nd.

Bound in paper covered boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12485

Azione bellica in campagna ed intorno a fortezze. Ams/copy? [folio, 41 leaves], Treatise on war strategy in Italy, nd.17th century.

Bound in vellum, damaged, one part of cover missing.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12486

Siri, Vittorio, Ristretti e di cose più considerabili d'otto tomi delle memorie recondite dell' anno 1600 sino al 1640 e di nove tomi del Mercurio, overo Storia de tempi correnti dal 1635 al presente 16...[sic] di Vittorio Siri scritti da Mons. Baltassar, Cavalier Parigino. Ams/copy [folio, 139 leaves], 1608-1685.nd.

Index at beginning. Bound in vellum.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12487

Italy. Laws, Statutes, etc. [A miscellaneous collection of laws]. Ams/copy [folio, 382 leaves], nd.

Cover title: De Bannitis. Subject index at beginning. In Latin. Bound in paper covered boards, damaged spine.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12488

Foy-Vaillant, Jean, Numismata; Imperatorum Romanorum praestantiora a Julio Caesare ad postumun et tyrannos. 8 Amss/copies of printed books [folio, 272 leaves], 1632-1706.1714 August 7.

Note by Joannes Baraldus Bononiensis, scribe, giving the date he began these copies. Index at beginning. Bound in paper covered boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12489

Barbazza, Andrea, conte, Poesie. Ams/copy of printed book [quarto, 217 leaves], 1581-1656.nd.

Ghiselli Arms. Index of first lines. Bound in vellum.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12490.i

Baruffaldi, Girolamo, Canonizzazione et ottavario di Santa Catarina. Ams/copy [folio, 304 leaves], 1675-1755.[ca 1712?].

Bound with this: four etchings of Santa Caterina, one by F.M. Francia; engraved coat of arms by Laurentius Tinuus; floor plan of the Cathedral of San Pietro, Bologna. Ghiselli arms. Bound in quarter vellum with paper covered boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 121490.ii

Sacra rituum congregatione eminentis et reverendis D. Card. Carpineo Bononien. Canonizationis B. Catharinae A. Bononia Monialis Profesae Ordinis S. Clarae... Ams/copy [quarto, 138 leaves], nd.

Ghiselli Arms. Bound in quarter vellum with paper covered boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12493

Bartoloni, Pietro Domenico Politica e dottrina civile di Giusto Lipsio compendiata in versi toscani da Piet.o Dom.co Bartoloni da Empoli Ams/copy [folio, 208 leaves] nd.

Bound in quarter vellum with paper covered boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12495

Benazzi, Giorgio. Discorsi eruditi in forma di dialogo intitolati dell' Iberico...divisi in dieci giornate. Ams/copy/inc[folio, 677 leaves], nd.

Musical notation and sketches on some pages. Dialogues concerning the education of a courtier. Bound in full calf with gilt ruling.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12496

Beni, Girolamo. L'arte simbolica. Ams [folio, 24 leaves], 1672.

Written on title page: Ams notes by Angelo Antonio Sacco and Conte Ferdinando Vincenzo Ranuzzi Cospi. Bound in paper covered boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12497

Bentivoglio, Guido, cardinal, 1579-1644.

Erudizioni varie cavate dalle memorie del Cardinal Bentivoglio. Ams/copy [folio, 126 leaves], nd.

Bound in paper.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12498

Origine della famiglia de' Bentivogli. Ams/copy [folio, 78 leaves], nd.

Bound in calf with gilt ruling.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12499

Bentivoglio, Guido, cardinal, Memorie. Ams/copy [folio, 283 leaves], 1579-1644.nd.

Bound in vellum.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12500

Benucci, M. Lattanzio, Rime. Ams/copy? [folio, 263 leaves], 1521-1598nd.

Index of first lines at end. Bound in full calf with gilt ruling.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12501

Bertini, Romolo, Poesie diverse... Ams/copy [folio, 77 leaves], [1611-1654]?nd.

Bound in full calf with gilt ruling.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12502

Boccalini, Traiano, Pietra del paragone politico...con prima e seconda aggiunta. Ams/copy [folio, 198 leaves], 1556-1613.nd.

Copy of a book printed in 1615 and revised in 1640. Ghiselli Arms. Bound in quarter vellum with paper boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12506*

Catholic Church. Pope. Bolle e Brevi. 6 Amss/copies [6 leaves; 6 leaves; 14 leaves; 2 leaves; 10 leaves; 14 leaves], 16th and 17th centuries.

Bound with these: Pope Alexander VII, [Documents concerning Alexandro Fachinetto, 2 Amss on vellum, 5 May and 9 May 1662. Also bound with these: 49 printed bulls and decrees; one of these (Bolla del Papa Pio V, 1566) has been removed [*to oversize folder 1]. Bound in quarter vellum.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12507.i-Ph 12507.viii

Bologna.

Volume

Ph 12507.i

Trattati dell' acque del fiume Reno antichi e preventivi al 1715 con altre scritture attenenti a diversi fiummi e condotti del Bolognese. Amss/copies [2 leaves; 2 leaves; 2 leaves; 6 leaves; 2 leaves; 4 leaves; 2 leaves; 2 leaves; 4 leaves; 2 leaves; 2 leaves; 2 leaves; 2 leaves; 2 leaves; 2 leaves; 4 leaves; 12 leaves], 1712-1720.

Bound with these: 25 printed documents and maps. These manuscripts and printed materials concern the dispute between Bologna and Ferrara over the waterworks on the river Reno and its subsidiaries. Ghiselli Arms. Bound in quarter vellum.

Volume

Ph 12507.ii*

Trattati delle Acque. Printed material. One engraved map (Topografia del Corso del Po e delle Acque aggiacienti da Piacenza fino al Mare fatta l' anno 1716) has been removed

[*to oversize folder 4]

Volume

Ph 12507.iii

Trattati dell' acque del fiume Reno che principiano dal memoriale al Papa...dal ambasciatore di Bologna Aldrovandi...nel 1715. 3 Amss/copies [2 leaves; 54 leaves; 16 leaves], 1712-1720.

Bound with these: 7 printed documents and maps. These manuscripts and printed materials concern the dispute between Bologna and Ferrara over the watervorks on the river Reno and its subsidiaries. Some of the manuscripts are copies of printed documents. Ghiselli Arms. Bound in quarter vellum.

Volume

Ph 12507.iv

Trattati dell' acque del fiume Reno...su le pretese variazioni nel Reno, Panara e Po dopo il 1693. 8 Amss/copies [4 leaves; 1 leaf; 4 leaves; 6 leaves; 8 leaves; 6 leaves; 4 leaves; 22 leaves], 1712-1720.

Bound with these: 11 printed documents and maps. These manuscripts and printed materials concern the dispute between Bologna and Ferrara over the watervorks on the river Reno and its subsidiaries. Ghiselli Arms. Bound in quarter vellum.

Volume

Ph 12507.v

Trattati dell' acque del fiume Reno che principia con dialoghi fra Giorgio, Maurelio e Petronio. Amss/copies [8 leaves; 19 leaves; 8 leaves; 2 leaves; 24 leaves; 16 leaves; 16 leaves; 6 leaves], 1712-1720.

Bound with these: 10 printed documents and maps. These manuscripts and printed materials concern the dispute between Bologna and Ferrara over the waterworks on the river Reno and its subsidiaries. Ghiselli Arms. Bound in quarter vellum.

Volume

Ph 12507.vi

Della navigazione del Po di primaro et dell' essicazione delle paludi che le sono a destra in Romagna. Ams/copy [folio, 96 leaves], 1712-1720.

These manuscripts and printed materials concern the dispute between Bologna and Ferrara over the waterworks on the river Reno and its subsidiaries. Ghiselli Arms. Bound in quarter vellum.

Volume

Ph 12507.vii

[Scritture concernenti al condotto della Lorgana]. Ams/copy [folio, 90 leaves], 1712 1720.

Includes one engraved and one autograph map. These manuscripts and printed materials concern the dispute between Bologna and Ferrara over the waterworks on the river Reno and its subsidiaries. Ghiselli Arms. Bound in quarter vellum.

Volume

Ph 12507.viii*

Varie Scritture vecchie...sopra del Reno... ...Ams [folio, 1 leaf], 1682nd.

Title page and dedication to the reader. Ranuzzi Arms. These manuscripts and printed materials concern the dispute between Bologna and Ferrara over the waterworks on the river Reno and its subsidiaries. Removed from this: [La Valle del Reno...], watercolor map of the territory including Bologna and Ferrara, 1682 [*to oversize folder 2]. Bound in vellum.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12508

Scritture atenenti al governo di Bologna. Amss/copies [folio, 320 leaves], nd.

A collection of manuscripts and printed documents: Two charts of wheat production, expenditures and taxes. Ghiselli Arms. Bound in quarter vellum with paper boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12509.i-iv

Ranuzzi Cospi, Vincenzo Ferdinando [Antonio], conte, comp. Il Senator Novello. Amss in 4 volumes [folio, 299 leaves; 246 leaves; 402 leaves; 325 leaves], 1658-1726,1725.

Index at beginning of each volume. First volume contains a dedication to his son Marc' Antonio who took Vincenzo's Senate seat after 1724. Bound in quarter vellum with paper boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12510

Sommario degli ordini senatorij da leggersi in Reggimento. Ams/copy [quarto, 16 leaves], nd.

Original manuscript dated 1671. Bound in vellum.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12512

Bolognetti, Alberto. Relazione delle cose ecclesiastiche nel dominio de Veneziani. Ams/copy [folio, 506 leaves], nd.

Bound in paper covered boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12515

Bottini, monsignor. Discorso sopra la regalia pretesa nelle vacanze di tutte le chiese cattedrali di Francia. Ams/copy [folio, 122 leaves], nd.

Table of contents at beginning. Bound in vellum.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12516

Carlo Borromeo, Saint, Copia di lettera...[per levar abusi nel suo Arcivescovado di Milano dai Ministri spagnoli...l' anno 1657]. AL/copy [folio, 114 leaves], 1538-1584.nd.

Index at beginning. Bound in calf with gilt ruling.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12517

Bratti, Ingrano di, comp. Cronaca della Mirandola et della nobilissima progenie...Manfredi...dal 1000 al 1536. Ams/copy [folio, 85 leaves], nd.

Bound in calf with gilt ruling.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12519

Busetti. Che un politico amore mon ha buon fine Ams/copy [folio, 90 leaves], nd.

Bound in vellum.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12520

Busini, Giovanni Batista. Copia d' alcune lettere...scritte a Mons. Bened.o Varchi delle cose seguite a Firenze dall' anno 1527 all' anno 1530. AL/copies [folio, 218 leaves], 1549 January - 1552 April.

Bound in calf with gilt ruling.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12521

Cabala alchimica in manipolazione di metalli e altro. Ams/copy [quarto, 194 leaves], nd.

Bound in paper covered boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12522.i-ii

Cambi Importuni, Giovanni. Memorie di Firenze, in due parti [Dal suo principio, al 1535]. Amss/copies in two volumes [folio, 69 leaves, 136 leaves], nd.

Bound in paper boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12523

Canobio, Giulio. Diffese, raggioni e suppliche di Giulio Canobio, gentiluomo milanese, carcerato in questo turone di Bologna. Amss/copies [folio, 56 leaves], [1712 August 3].

Bound in paper covered boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Capponi, Neri

Volume

Ph 12524

Commentarij d' Italia dal 1419 al 1456... Ams/copy [folio, 56 leaves], nd.

Ghiselli Arms. Bound in quarter vellum with paper boards.

Volume

Ph 12525

Commentarij e memorie di cose seguite in Italia dal 1419 al 1430... Ams/copy [folio, 30 leaves], nd.

Bound in paper covered boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

Volume

Ph 12526

DeBellis, Agostino. Breve raconto de Congressi che per ordine della Sacra Cong.e dell' Indice fecero alla presenze del...Card. Capponi Bellis, Teatino, et il...Rò gesuita, intorno il...de alla controversia che verte fra il P.D. Gio: Batta Castaldo et il P. Giulio Nigrone, che S. Ignatio si volesse far Teatino. Ams/copy [folio, 198 leaves], nd.

Ghiselli Arms. Bound in quarter vellum with paper boards.

Return to the Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Ranuzzi Family:

A Preliminary Inventory of Their Manuscripts at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center

Scope and Contents

Abbreviations Used in the List

Restrictions

Access:

Administrative Information

Acquisition:

Processed by:

Other Finding Aid

Other Finding Aid

Other Finding Aid

Other Finding Aid

Ranuzzi Family Manuscripts--List