Antonio Possevino S.I. bibliografo della Controriforma e diffusione della sua opera in area anglicana by Luigi Balsamo

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MLR, 102.3, 2007 82I Antonio Possevino S.I. bibliografo della Controriforma e diffusionedella sua opera in area anglicana. By LUIGI BALSAMO. Florence: Olschki. 2006. 225 pp. ?24. ISBN 978-88-222-5569-3. The firstpart of Luigi Balsamo's study ofAntonio Possevino (I533-I6II) and the reception of his printed works deals with his activities as a Jesuit in the service of theRoman Catholic faith during the age of theCounter-Reformation. Possevino's tireless endeavours, Balsamo shows, were all inspired by the same burning desire to spread his faithamong people of every social level and in every land, and toprevent thewritten word from subverting that faith inanyway. As aman of action, Possevino undertook missions toPiedmont, where he campaigned against the Waldensians, and innorthern and eastern Europe, as farafield as Transylvania. As well as preaching, he helped to set up schools to educate people correctly and to train futuremissionaries. But Possevino's main weapon was theuse and control of thewritten word. On theone hand, hewanted 'heretical' or otherwise harmful books to be confiscated and burnt. On theother, hewanted people tobe provided with edifying reading thatwas suitable to their educational level or vocation; one early example was amanual forChristian soldiers who were about tobe sent to fightagainst Turks or Calvinists. Possevino's educational and missionary work led him to compile, from the I570S onwards, thework thatbecame his Bibliotheca selecta, firstprinted inRome in 1593. This provided a comprehensive and authoritarian guide to the training of those brought up in theCatholic faith, todealings with non-Christian peoples and heretics, and tobranches of learning. By providing a positive method of study and reading for good Catholics, he was complementing thenegative action of the Index ofProhibited Books produced by theCouncil ofTrent and he was counteracting the influence of Conrad Gesner and other compilers of (in his view) harmful bibliographies. Pos sevino gave instructions for the censorship ofworks, whether printed ormanuscript, held in libraries and bookshops. His desire for total control over bibliographical in formation even led him to urge that catalogues from the Frankfurt book fair should be banned or at least expurgated. Printers were not touse lascivious illustrations such as ornamental capital lettersdepicting naked women. In the sections on history and poetry (Books xvi and xvii), the vernacular writings attacked by Possevino include Arthurian romances, Boccaccio's Decameron, Ariosto's Orlandofurioso, and theworks ofMachiavelli. Vittoria Colonna ispraised, however, forher piety and skill. Balsamo compares the firstedition of theBibliotheca selectawith those of I603 and I607, casting new light in particular on the circumstances inwhich the thirdwas produced in Cologne. He also studies the publication of individual sections of the work in separate editions; all of thesewere produced in formats more manageable and cheaper than theoriginal folio edition, so that they would reach aswide a readership as possible. Here thecareful comparison of copies of the same edition reveals important information on Possevino's procedures. Balsamo then examines the two editions of theApparatus sacer, a bio-biographical compendium intended as a second part of the Bibliotheca. The production of its firstedition tookmany years, from I593 to i6o6, largelybecause Possevino himself had to submit to a process of censorship within the Jesuitorder. In a very interestingchapter on Possevino as publisher, Balsamo reveals, too, that theSociety of Jesusmade no financial contribution toPossevino's publishing project, which he had to fund froma variety of other sources. In reading of thisworld of intransigence andmistrust, it is reassuring to findthat the Jesuit maintained awarm personal relationship with Henry Wotton, a firm Anglican; Wotton sent him a supply of tobacco on learning thatPossevino was taking itdaily as a treatment fordizziness. The second part ofBalsamo's book gives a detailed account of thediffusion ofPos sevino's works, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, inwhat was for them the mainly hostile territoryofEngland. Although some early owners of these books were 822 Reviews probably Catholics, most were interested inPossevino as an opponent of their own faith.From the eighteenth century onwards, however, themain motive forcollectors became bibliophily. Balsamo's excellent work, meticulously put together over many years, will be of value forthehistories of thecirculation of Italian books inBritain and of the formation of British libraries. But itshould also be read by anyone interested in the...