On his death in 1474 Giovanni di Marco da Rimini, physician to Malatesta Novello, bequeathed his library of medical manuscripts to the recently established Biblioteca Malatestiana in Cesena, Italy. Giovanni's library, which was preserved along with the rest of the Bibliotheca Malatestiana, may be the earliest physician's library to have survived intact. The library contains numerous spectacular codices of the expected standard European and Arab scientific and medical authorities, several dating from the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, and one (S. XXI.5) dating from the 8th century. Some are finely illuminated. That Giovanni owned several manuscripts from prior centuries suggests that he collected books not only for reference but also out of humanistic and antiquarian interest. The annotated catalogue contains numerous fine color plates.

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