Album de stampine antiche

Album de stampine antiche (English: Album of Ancient Stamps) is a 19th-century folio, crafted in Florence, Italy, and is attributed to a member of the historically significant Peruzzi family. Acquired by Penn Libraries in 2017 through the Zachs-Adam Rare Book Fund, the album is a unique amalgamation of a handwritten Italian business mathematics guide overlaid with roughly 350 woodcuts and engravings. These pasted fragments, sourced from various Italian cities such as Bologna, Florence, Naples, Parma, Rome, and Venice, as well as other European locations including Cologne, Geneva, and Lyon, date from 1569 to 1790.

Background of Fragments

A fragment refers to "remnants, snippets, or pieces," often collected from various sources and repurposed for new creations or archival collections. These pieces can range from scraps of manuscripts to parts of larger printed works, carrying unique histories and values as objects of interest​​.

• Remnants: Pieces that remain from something that was once whole. In archival terms, remnants are parts of manuscripts, books, or other materials that have survived while the rest has been lost or destroyed.

• Snippets: Small and often interesting pieces cut or torn from a larger document or printed material. Snippets may include quotations, excerpts, or sections of artwork that are preserved for their intrinsic value or informational content.

• Pieces: Broadly, any part of a larger item that exists independently. This can encompass anything from a single leaf of a manuscript to a fragment of a sculpture, providing historical, cultural, or aesthetic insights into its original context.

The collection and preservation of such fragments have a varied history. Initially, printed fragments were often overlooked and undervalued due to the preference for complete works. However, in the early 17th century figures like Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc began to recognize the importance of these pieces, collecting not only complete volumes but also fragments that offered unique historical insights. This approach marked a shift in how printed materials were valued, focusing on the preservation of history rather than the completeness of the text.

Example of a fragment, viewable at Picyrl.

By the 19th century, the collection of fragments became more formalized with individuals like John Bagford, a pioneer in fragment collecting. Bagford, along with others like Humfrey Wanley and Anthony Wood, collected a wide array of printed and manuscript materials, which were preserved in scrapbooks and other forms. The transition from individual curiosity to scholarly value marked a significant evolution in the appreciation and study of fragments. It was crucial for documenting the history of printing and providing evidence for bibliographic studies that would otherwise be lost, though the study of fragments continued to suffer from problems of disinterest, classification, and preservation.

The Hanrott children’s album and Émile-Auguste Reiber's "Le mirifique trésor des imprimeurs de Paris" are two distinct examples of how fragment albums can vary in content and purpose. The former is a vivid collection created by children, featuring illuminated initials carefully cut from a Carmelite missal, reconstructed by Margaret Rickert in 1938. These snippets have been creatively rearranged by the children to spell out alphabets and their names, showcasing a playful use of historical manuscript elements. In contrast, the latter serves as a scholarly compendium of sixteenth-century French woodcuts, providing a focused look at the art of print and design from a specific cultural and historical perspective. Such albums illustrate the strong versatility of fragment collections, with each being uniquely shaped by the circumstances and individuals tied to its creation.

Material Analysis

(Figure 1) Page of fragments.

(Figure 2) Blue cover with title and floral designs.

The “Album de stampine antiche" is constructed from several material components that contribute to its unique physical character.

The primary substrate consists of lined pages made from a thin paper, likely manufactured from milled plant and textile fibers. There is handwritten text covering these pages, written with black ink. The cover and the spine of the album are bound in blue paper with a coarse texture, further enhanced with decorative Italian-style floral motifs. Binding these materials together is twine, which holds the folio-formatted pages securely so the album can be handled without the risk of loose pages.

(Figure 3) Page displaying handwritten Italian text.

The content of the album includes roughly 350 diverse fragments, each a snippet of larger printed materials such as woodcuts and engravings. These fragments are pasted onto the paper, and are derived from sources printed between 1569 and 1790. They vary greatly in texture and thickness, reflecting the diverse types of paper and practices used across different Italian cities like Bologna, Florence, Naples, Parma, Rome, Venice, and other European cities including Cologne, Geneva, and Lyon.

The “Album de stampine antiche” exhibits signs of wear and aging that add to its historical narrative. The blue paper cover and spine show noticeable staining, particularly on the back, which appears to be ink stains. Additionally, there is a section of the spine that has torn away, revealing the twine used to bind the book. Within the album, some of the snippets weakly adhere to the paper due to the glue wearing away, and other snippets are simply placed into the book after they deattached.

Content Analysis

The “Album de stampine antiche” showcases blend of practical and artistic elements, starting with its primary substrate.

The lined paper within the album features handwritten text discussing Italian business mathematics, which includes both theoretical content and practical problems to solve. This handwritten text predates the pasted snippets and suggests the album may have initially served as an informal educational tool within a family or business setting. The nature of the handwriting and content points to a utilitarian use, possibly intended to aid in the learning or daily application of business mathematics.

(Figure 4) Page displaying a set of pasted fragments.

Pasted over this mathematical manuscript, the album houses approximately 350 snippets that introduce a starkly different use and aesthetic. These fragments are incredibly diverse in content, featuring images of animals, human figures, and intricate decorative designs that showcase the artistry of European printmaking. The text accompanying these images is predominantly in Italian, providing descriptions of the origins and contexts of the books from which these snippets were taken. However, neither the text nor visuals have any relation to the handwriting they are pasted on. This variety of visuals and text enriches the album’s historical and artistic value, offering a snapshot of the wide array of themes and styles prevalent in printed materials from the 1569 to 1790 period.

(Figure 5) Page displaying "Caroli Peruzzi" signature.

The album is structured in a way that emphasizes casual exploration over systematic study due to its absence of navigational tools like page numbers or an index. This and the seemingly random placement of the snippets suggests that the album was designed to be perused rather than read in a linear fashion. Each page stands independently, hosting distinct pastings that do not necessarily relate to each other, allowing the viewer to encounter each fragment as a separate piece of art or history.

In terms of paratextual elements, the album offers very few clues about its origins or the intentions behind its creation. The occasional inscription of “Caroli Peruzzi” on some pastings hints at the ownership or curation of the album, but these sparse notes leave much to be learned about the backstory of the work. There is a noticeable lack of annotational and asemic marks on the pastings.

The combination of the utilitarian handwritten text and the decorative snippets creates a unique contrast within the album. On one hand, there is the practical, educational purpose of the original manuscript, and on the other, an artistic and aesthetic celebration of printmaking and design. This overlay of diverse contents illustrates the evolution of the album's use over time, and is the main differentiator between this album and other such collections of fragments.

Theory of Intentions

The “Album de stampine antiche” appears to have been assembled with an intention that aligns more with aesthetic appreciation and collection, rather than academic preservation or a particular cultural interest.

This finding is informed by observations about the features of the album:

• The album's simple title, meaning “Album of ancient stamps,” seems to suggest a motivation more rooted in collection than historical preservation.

• The overlaying of fragments on unrelated mathematical text would be a bizarre choice for an individual seeking to preserve fragments for historical documentation and analysis. This decision likely stems from practical utility, with the creator making use of resources at hand.

• The majority of the fragments in the album are aesthetically pleasing. There are many instances where text is cropped while an image is carefully clipped out, suggesting that the main focus was visual rather than textual.

• The casual physical assembly of the album, with its unorganized and messily-placed content, does not suggest that it intended to be an academic archive.

• Annotations and navigational tools, such as page numbers or an index, are typically fundamental for academia, but are noticeably absent in this album.

• The collection of fragments is diverse and includes snippets from all over Europe and across hundreds of years of history, making it unlikely that the creator sought to document a particular type of culture.
  • However, the selection might still reflect a broad interest in European artistic and printing traditions.

Such peculiarities illustrate how different "Album de stampine antiche” is from other albums in the category. It does not appear to be a means of expression or creativity, as was the case for Hanrott children’s album, and does not carefully document artistry with a singular thematic focus, such as Reiber’s "Le mirifique trésor des imprimeurs de Paris.” Instead, this album’s assembly of visually appealing snippets from various periods and regions, laid over a base of unrelated mathematical text, seems to highlight an emphasis on aesthetic appreciation and collection, or perhaps broad cultural appreciation.

(Figure 6) Page displaying intricate and aesthetic fragments.

However, the historical context of the Peruzzi family might add nuance to the creation of the "Album de stampine antiche." While once a prominent banking dynasty in Florence, the family faced significant decline in the 14th century due to severe financial crises and political upheavals. The financial background connects with the pages of business mathematics lessons that the fragments are pasted on, which could imply that the work was used within the Peruzzi family.

Additionally, it is important to note that not all the family fortunes were lost during bankruptcy, and the Peruzzi continued to figure among the prominent families of Florence, the patrizii di Firenze, even into the 19th century, when this album was assembled. The process of collecting the fragments pasted into the album was predicated on the defacing of hundreds of books. This would have required a high level of access and ownership of works to cut snippets from, and perhaps only a rich or connected family, like the Peruzzis, had this capacity, just as it seems unlikely that any but the Hanrott children, as the offspring of an established book collector, could assemble their album.

Given the family’s influence and struggles, it is plausible that a Peruzzi descendant put together the album as a means to preserve and honor cultural and familial heritage. The compilation of diverse printed fragments from various periods and regions could represent an attempt to retain a connection to the broader narrative of European art and culture, which the Peruzzi family would have been historically intertwined with. Such an album could serve both as a personal tribute and a symbolic repository of the family’s enduring legacy, despite their faded prominence in society. This collecting endeavor might have provided a way to reclaim some sense of identity and pride in the rich history that the Peruzzi lineage once embodied.

Despite these theories surrounding the “Album de stampine antiche” and its connections to the Peruzzi family, the exact motivations behind its creation remain unclear. The peculiar combination of the pages and fragments, combined with the absence of textual annotations, leaves room for speculation. It could be that the album was compiled out of pure aesthetic interest in the art of printmaking, appreciating the visual beauty of the snippets without a deeper intent. Alternatively, it may have been created for cultural appreciation and preservation, perhaps even for scholarly purposes despite the contradicting evidence.