Pinelli, Gianvincenzo
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Pinelli, Gianvincenzo: (b. 1535, in Naples; d. 1601). Patron of literature. Born into a noble family of Genoese ancestry, he moved to Padua in 1535 where he moved in scholarly circles. A poor constitution prevented him from persuing an active life. He became an avid collector of books, scientifical instruments, exotic plants, etc. His library was so famous that, upon his death, the senate of Venice had all of his manuscripts that were related to Venetian topics, some 200 in number, confiscated to become part of that state’s archives. The remainder of the library, packed into 14 chests of manuscripts and 116 chests of books, were loaded into 3 ships which were to bring them to Pinelli’s relative in Naples. One of these ships, unfortunately, was captured by pirates who threw many of the books overboard, tossing the rest onto a nearby beach at Fermo. By a fortunate accident, the local bishop recognized the value of the scattered books and was able to salvage many of them which he sent on to Naples. All of the rest of the library arrived safely and were purchased by Cardinal Frederic Borromeo for 3,400 gold crowns.