Note 73 — Chapter II · The Bibliography of Bibliographies Comes of Age

The authority cited in the article on Claudius Flemmus is "in Parnasso Euganeo," which a modern reader will probably find difficult to identify immediately. Labbé is referring to Jacobus Philippus Tomasinus (Jacopo Filippo Tomasini, 1597-1654), Parnassus Euganeus sive de scriptoribus ac literatis huius aevi claris (Padua, 1647. 28 leaves). In the article on Tomasinus Labbé damns the Parnassus wholeheartedly: "In fact, this book is so full of errors [I use the modern bibliographer's cliché] that one scarcely finds three or four articles correct and complete. (Verum hic liber mendosissimus est, ut vix tria quatuorve nomina sincera atque integra reperias)." This Parnassus, which is the only one that Labbé knew or, at least, chose to cite, is different from Tomasini's Parnassus Euganeus sive museum clarissimorum virorum et antiquorum monumentorum simulacris exornatum (Padua, 1647. 10 leaves). The first is a collection of biobibliographies, and the second is an account of the portraits on the walls of Tomasini's villa. For comment on these works see Christian Bruun's essay on Tomasini's friend, Johan Rode, in Paa Hundrede-aarsdagen efter at det store kongelige bibliothek blev erklaeret for at vaere et offentligt bibliothek (Copenhagen, 1893), p. 45.