The Coronini Cronberg library, consisting of around 22,000 volumes, was only established after the Second World War, absorbing much of the effort and financial resources of Guglielmo Coronini, who wanted to reconstitute the “beautiful, ancient” family library that had been destroyed during the Second World War. His purchases, at prestigious antiquarian bookshops in Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Bologna and Trieste, but also in Vienna, Salzburg, Graz and Klagenfurt, focused mainly on the works of his ancestor Rodolfo Coronini, on books aimed at researching the medieval history of Gorizia, but also on 18th century publishing, with a particular focus on original editions of the works of Giacomo Casanova. In addition to incunabula and sixteenth-century books, including Andrea Mattioli's Dioscorides from 1557, and volumes from the 17th and 18th centuries, the library contains a substantial amount of modern material, documenting Guglielmo Coronini's many interests in a wide range of fields, from local history, to legal and scientific subjects, to art history. Immediately after the count's death, the library was transferred to the State Archives in Gorizia, where it is still located and available for consultation.
Since 2021, thanks to two grants from the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia (Regional Law no. 16 of 11 August 2014), work has begun on entering the library's volumes into the Italian National Library System, starting with the most valuable ancient works, incunabula, sixteenth and seventeenth century books, totalling 3026 copies.
For research, please consult the website: BiblioEst
The most valuable item in the Coronini Cronberg Library is undoubtedly the manuscript on the game of chess, which was probably acquired before 1950 by Count Guglielmo Coronini from a bookshop in Venice – a bookshop that had previously belonged to the Friulian poet and bibliophile Giuseppe Malattia della Vallata. Only recently, however, has the autograph of the great Renaissance mathematician Luca Pacioli (c. 1445–c. 1517), entitled *De ludo schaccorum*, known as *Schifanoia*, been recognised in this small volume, finely bound in leather. The work, which the author had intended to dedicate to Isabella d’Este, Marquise of Mantua, and her husband Federico Gonzaga, was written around the year 1500 and, although its existence was known from documentary evidence provided by Pacioli himself, had been considered lost for centuries. The subject matter, the late 15th-century watermark, the exquisite craftsmanship of the cover, and the comparison with other autograph letters all make the attribution entirely convincing. The attribution to Pacioli is, in fact, confirmed both by the graphic characteristics of the manuscript – which was examined by the renowned palaeographer Attilio Bartoli Langeli – and by the language of the manuscript which, in the opinion of Enzo Mattesini, Professor of Italian Linguistics at the University of Perugia and an expert on the vernacular used in Pacioli’s other works, does not display any features that cannot be attributed to this illustrious figure. One of the most distinguished mathematicians of his time, Luca Pacioli was born in Borgo San Sepolcro (Arezzo) around 1445 and died (possibly in Venice) in 1517. He studied theology and joined the Franciscan Order in 1470.
