Tammaro De Marinis, Vittorio Forti, and the Acquisition of Islamic Manuscripts for J. P. Morgan in Constantinople in 1913

Federico Botana
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Abstract

Abstract (Lang: English):In winter 1913, the Italian bookdealer Tammaro De Marinis, with his business associate Vittorio Forti, embarked in an ambitious mission: the acquisition in Constantinople of Islamic manuscripts ultimately for purchase by J. P. Morgan. Forti spent about two months there, but his expedition was not as successful as he and De Marinis expected. Moreover, just as the acquired manuscripts began to arrive in Italy, Morgan died, and it took De Marinis more than a decade to find an alternative buyer for the collection, which amounted to more than 400 manuscripts.This article is based on letters sent from Constantinople by Forti to De Marinis. These letters, still unpublished, paint a vivid picture of Forti's hunt for manuscripts in the Ottoman capital during the period of the First Balkan War. They contain glimpses of influential Turkish figures, as well as European intellectuals, diplomats and artists, and colourful local dealers, all of whom Forti depended on to achieve his goals. By today’s standards, Forti's modus operandi would be unacceptable. He was more than willing to bribe officials to obtain manuscripts from public collections and to take advantage of the volatile political situation. His letters seem particularly pertinent today, when museums and public libraries increasingly face questions about the provenance of some of their acquisitions, and as scholars consider new ethical ways of dealing with the problem.
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Tammaro De Marinis, Vittorio Forti,以及1913年在君士坦丁堡为j.p. Morgan获得的伊斯兰手稿
摘要:1913年冬天,意大利书商Tammaro De Marinis和他的商业伙伴Vittorio Forti开始了一项雄心勃勃的任务:在君士坦丁堡收集伊斯兰手稿,最终由j·p·摩根购买。福尔蒂在那里呆了大约两个月,但他的探险并不像他和德马里尼所期望的那样成功。此外,就在获得的手稿开始抵达意大利时,摩根去世了,德马里尼斯花了十多年的时间才找到另一个买家来购买这些多达400多份手稿的收藏。这篇文章是根据福尔蒂从君士坦丁堡寄给马林尼的信改编的。这些尚未发表的信件生动地描绘了福尔蒂在第一次巴尔干战争期间在奥斯曼帝国首都寻找手稿的过程。书中有一些有影响力的土耳其人物,还有欧洲知识分子、外交官和艺术家,以及色彩斑斓的当地商人,这些都是Forti实现目标所依赖的人。按照今天的标准,Forti的做法是不可接受的。他非常愿意贿赂官员,以从公共收藏中获得手稿,并利用动荡的政治局势。他的信件在今天显得尤为贴切,因为博物馆和公共图书馆越来越多地面临着有关其某些藏品出处的问题,学者们也在考虑用新的道德方式来处理这个问题。
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CiteScore
0.30
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0.00%
发文量
16
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