Towards the end of the sixteenth century it became fashionable for Roman patricians to exchange books as mementos of their friendship. The giver’s name and arms customarily were placed on the lower cover, and those of the recipient on the upper cover. The earlier of such Roman “friendship bindings” are simply decorated, for instance two with the Jacobilli family arms and initials G. I. on their lower covers, and Capranica arms and initials C. C. on upper covers.¹ Later bindings are more explicit and more decorative, as for example two bound in the Soresini workshop having the Orlandini arms and name “Scipio Orlandi” lettered on lower covers, and Della Fonte arms and name “Ivliani Fontivs” on upper covers,² and seven also bound in the Soresini workshop with the arms and names on covers of Torquato de Cupis and Giovanni Battista Crescenzi. On four of the latter, De Cupis’s name and the impaled De Cupis-Conti arms appear on the lower covers, and Crescenzi’s name and family arms on the upper covers. On the other three, these positions are reversed (see “Roman friendship bindings: Torquato de Cupis & Giovanni Battista Crescenzi” on this website, Notabilia [link]).

Three “friendship bindings” of Domenico Massimo and Gaspare Ruggeri are known. Two presumably were gifts from Domenico to Gaspare, as Domenico’s name “Dominicus Maximus” and family arms appear on the lower cover, and Gaspare’s name “Gaspar Roggerius” and family arms on the upper cover. The third volume apparently was a gift from Gaspare to Domenico, as Gaspare’s name and arms appear on the lower cover.

Domenico Massimo was born in Rome in 1574, the eldest son of Alessandro Massimo (d. 1626) and Olimpia de Cupis. He held multiple offices in the municipal administration: Consigliere del Popolo Romano (in 1605, 1608, 1614), Caporione di Sant’ Eustachio (1609, 1613), and Conservatori (1632).³ When Federico Colonna, Príncipe de Butera, was appointed viceroy of Valencia, Domenico accompanied him to Spain, and died in Madrid in 1640.

Gaspare Ruggeri was born in Rome in 1572, the second of three sons of Pompeo Ruggeri (Ruggieri), Camerarius of the Compagnia del SS. Salvatore ad Sancta Sanctorum (1590), and Cangenua Miccinelli (d. 1596). He married Firmina Cansacchi, likewise took on Capitoline offices,⁴ and embarked on a military career in the papal troops. After his father’s death, in 1591, Gaspare inherited a third-share in the magnificent Palazzo Ruggeri, “Il Palazzo del leone rampante”, designed by Giacomo della Porta (1588), and decorated (frescoes in 11 rooms) by Cherubino and Giovanni Alberti (1591-1592), with the stipulation that the palace was to be donated to the Compagnia del SS. Salvatore in the event no family members were left to inherit it. This became reality with the death of the childless Gaspare on 22 July 1657.

Comparative illustration Jacobilli – Capranica friendship binding (no. 1a)

Comparative illustration Scipio Orlandini – Giulio Della Fonte friendship binding (no. 2a)

bindings – gaspare’s name on upper cover

(1) Pindarus, Olympia. Pythia. Nemea. Isthmia. Caeterorum octo lyricorum carmina. Editio secunda græcolatina, H. Stephani recognitione locupletata ([Geneva]: Henri II Estienne, 1566)

provenance
● Gaspare Ruggeri (Ruggieri; 1572-1657), armorial supralibros on upper cover
● Rome, Biblioteca Angelica, F.ANT OO.240 (opac “Legatura (restaurata) in pelle marrone con impressioni in oro. Sul piatto ant. stemma di Gaspar Roggerius; sul piatto post. stemma di Dominicus Maximus. Taglio dorato e inciso” [link])

literature
Mostra storica della legatura artistica in Palazzo Pitti (Florence 1922), no. 360 (“Pindari Carmina. S. L. 1556 [sic!]. 0.063 x 0.130. Legatura italiana della metà del secolo XVI, in marocchino oliva decorato di fregi in oro; al centro del piatto anteriore uno stemma con la scritta: Gaspar | Rvggerivs; in quello posteriore altro stemma con la scritta: Dominicvs | Maximvs. Dorso dorato; taglio inciso e dorato. (R. Bibl. Angelica, Roma).” [link])
Cento belle legature italiane esposte nella Biblioteca Naz. Marciana di Venezia, Primo Congresso mondiale delle biblioteche e di bibliografia, Roma-Venezia 15-30 giugno MCMXXIX-a.VII (Rome 1929), p.38 no. 66 (“Mar. oliva a compartimenti di spirali d’oro punteggiate, terminate da rosoni e da ghiande a tratteggio ed a pieno. Ne l’ovale centrale del piano anteriore, le armi di Gaspare Ruggeri; ne l’ovale di quello posteriore, le arme di Domenico Massimi. Dorso decorato a fascie con emblemi militari. Taglio scolpito, dorato e colorato”)

(2) Plutarchus, Plutarchi Cheronaei philosophi et historici Vitae comparatae illustrium virorum Graecorum & Romanorum, ita digestae et in tomos tres dispertitae, ut temporum ordo seriesque constet. Hermanno Cruserio I.C. interprete (Lyon: Antoine Gryphe, 1566)

provenance
● Gaspare Ruggeri (Ruggieri; 1572-1657), armorial supralibros on upper cover
● Édouard Giard & Georges Andrieux, Vente d’un choix de livres précieux, portulan, manuscrits, incunables, reliures vénitiennes et aldines, livres à figures sur bois, illustrés du XVIIIe siècle, reliures aux armes ou ornées, Paris, 22 December 1927, lot 94 [link]
● unidentified owner - bought in sale (FF 1150)
● Phillp J. Pirages, McMinnville, OR; their Catalogue 44: Printed books before 1800, 19th and 20th Century printed books (McMinnville 1999), item 52 ($3500; “front board with deeply impressed central oval containing armorial centerpiece and with name ‘Gaspar’ above and ‘Roggerivs’ below, back board with intricate coat of arms at center surmounted by word ‘Dominicvs’ and above the word ‘Maximvs’”)
● T. Kimball Brooker (purchased from the above, 2000) [Bibliotheca Brookeriana ID #2336]
● Sotheby’s, Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library: Magnificent Books and Bindings, New York, 11 October 2023, lot 73 ($10,795 inclusive)

bindings – domenico’s name on upper cover

(3) Giovanni Boccaccio, Il Decamerone di m. Giouan Boccaccio, alla sua intera perfettione ridotto, et con dichiarationi et auuertimenti illustrato, per Girolamo Ruscelli. Ora in questa terza editione dal medesimo per tutto migliorato (Venice: Vincenzo Valgrisi & Baldassarre Costantini, 1557

provenance
● Domenico Massimo (1574-1640), armorial supralibros on upper cover
● Joseph Smith (1682-1770), exlibris (Martini, “Exemplaire provenant des bibliothèques de J. Smith, consul anglais à Venise, avec son ex-libris”)
● possibly S. Baker and G. Leigh, Bibliotheca Smithiana, a catalogue of the curious, elegant and very valuable library of Joseph Smith, Esq., his Britannick Majesty’s Consul of Venice, lately deceased, London, 25 January-7 February 1773, lot 275 [link]
● Frederick Nicolay (1728-1809), inscription “Fred. Nicolay” on title-page (Martini) [probably the royal musician and librarian, 1728-1809; see A. Hyatt King, “Portrait of a bibliophile, V: Frederick Nicolay, 1728/29-1809” in The Book Collector Winter 1960, pp.401-13]
● possibly Leigh & S. Sotheby, A catalogue of the very elegant library of the late Fred. Nicolay, Esq. of St. James’s Palace, London, 29 November 1809, lot 439
● possibly Richard Heber (1773-1833) - bought in sale (£1)
● possibly Sotheby & Son, Bibliotheca Heberiana. Catalogue of the library of the late Richard Heber, Esq. Part the ninth. Removed from Hodnet Hall, London, 11- 26 April 1836, lot 402 or 403 [link]
● possibly Thorpe - bought in sale (402: 17s 403: 5s)
● Giuseppe Martini, Lugano; Libreria antiquaria Ulrico Hoepli & Galerie Fischer, Bibliothèque Joseph Martini. Première partie: Livres rares et précieux d’autres provenances, Lucerne, 27-29 August 1934, lot 33 & Pl. 43 (“reliure romaine du XVIe siècle en maroquin rouge, très riches compartiments de filets et d’arabesques dorés sur les plats, au milieu du plat supérieur les armes de la famille princière Massimo de Rome, avec le nom ‘Dominicvs Maximvs’, et au milieu du plat inférieur celles de ‘Gaspar Roggerivs’, dos doré.” [link])