Bound by Books: Giovacchino Guasconi as book agent between the  Dutch Republic and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany

During the last years of the reign of Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany – from 1670 until his death in 1713 – the Florentine court faced the inevitable decline of the Medici dynasty. Cosimo’s zeal to stimulate industrial and technological innovations and to revitalize commerce resulted in an enormous expansion of correspondence and interchange between the Tuscan court and Europe in the 1660s. Once he came to power, Cosimo developed an interest in merchants who operated in the largest cities of Europe. Given the fact that the Grand Duke had a great fascination for the Dutch Republic, following his double stay there in 1667/1668 and 1669, the importance of Tuscan merchants in Amsterdam outweighed that of Medici traders in other European capitals. Among the scarce surviving correspondence of seventeenth-century Florentine merchants in the Low Countries, the most interesting may be that of Giovacchino Guasconi. During his tenure in Amsterdam as official agent for the Grand Duke, he...Show moreDuring the last years of the reign of Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany – from 1670 until his death in 1713 – the Florentine court faced the inevitable decline of the Medici dynasty. Cosimo’s zeal to stimulate industrial and technological innovations and to revitalize commerce resulted in an enormous expansion of correspondence and interchange between the Tuscan court and Europe in the 1660s. Once he came to power, Cosimo developed an interest in merchants who operated in the largest cities of Europe. Given the fact that the Grand Duke had a great fascination for the Dutch Republic, following his double stay there in 1667/1668 and 1669, the importance of Tuscan merchants in Amsterdam outweighed that of Medici traders in other European capitals. Among the scarce surviving correspondence of seventeenth-century Florentine merchants in the Low Countries, the most interesting may be that of Giovacchino Guasconi. During his tenure in Amsterdam as official agent for the Grand Duke, he wrote on average once a week to the Grand Ducal secretary, Apollonio Bassetti (1631-1699). This thesis explores the important role of Giovacchino Guasconi as intermediary between the cultural centres of Florence and Amsterdam in the seventeenth century, in particular his role as book agent between the well-known Dutch philologist Nicolaas Heinsius and Cosimo III.Show less

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Bound by Books: Giovacchino Guasconi as book agent between the Dutch Republic and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany