Jean Hurault de Boistaillé (1517–1572)Kasper van Ommen
‘À la bonne grace de Monsieur de Boistailli’ Scaliger and the Hurault de Boistaillé family
, Bulletin van de Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden en het Scaliger Instituut, 03/2009, s. 11. was a French nobleman and government official. In 1558 he was an emissary of the king

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

, then ambassador of France in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

(1562–1564). He played an important role in getting military support from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in the

Italian War of 1551–1559 The Italian War of 1551–1559 began when Henry II of France declared war against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V with the intent of recapturing parts of Italy and ensuring French, rather than Habsburg, domination of European affairs. The war e ...

. He was a bibliophile and collector of manuscripts and

incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...

. He died in England in 1572 during his diplomatic mission. Hurault used his appointment at the embassy to collect books and manuscripts. He used several agents who collected the books and manuscripts on his assignment. Zacharias Scordylis from

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

was one of them. Several book traders, such as Andreas Dramarius and Nicola della Torre, were also supplying manuscripts to Hurault and he used services of the Roman booksellers Vincenzo Lucchino and Camilius Venetus. On behalf of Hurault several agents bought some manuscripts from private collections and libraries, among them books from the library of Cardinal

Domenico Grimani Domenico Grimani (22 February 1461 – 27 August 1523) was an Italian nobleman, theologian and cardinal. Like most noble churchman of his era Grimani was an ecclesiastical pluralist, holding numerous posts and benefices. Biography Born in V ...

. He collected mainly Greek manuscripts, but also Arabic and Hebrew.Kasper van Ommen
''Libraries and Scaliger's Legacy of Learning''
, Christ Church Library Newsletter, Volume 6, Issue 3, Trinity 2010, p. 9. ISSN 1756-6797 The number of Greek manuscripts was 245. He possessed a 13th-century manuscript of the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

and a ''

Horologion The horologion or horologium ( pl. horologia), also known by other names, is the book of hours for the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. It provides the acolouthia (, ''akolouthíai''), the fixed portions of the Divine Service u ...

'' of the

Melkite The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in West Asia. The term comes from the common Central Semitic root ''m-l-k'', meaning "royal", referrin ...

, the earliest book printed from movable type in Arabic, which was produced in Fano, Italy, in 1514 at a press subsidized by

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II (; ; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome ...

. To his collection belonged a Hebrew manuscript of the

Pentateuch The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () o ...

from 1330 and a manuscript of the

Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...

. After his death the library came into the possession of his brother André Hurault de Maisse, who was also a book collector. Later the library came into the possession of his cousin,

Philippe Hurault de Cheverny Philippe Hurault, comte de Cheverny (1528 in Cheverny, Loir-et-Cher – 1599) was a French nobleman and politician. His son Philippe Hurault de Cheverny was a bishop. Life He was counsellor to the parlement de Paris, maître des requêtes (156 ...

, bishop of Chartres, son of

. After the Bishop's death the collection of 409 manuscripts was sold to King

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

for the sum of 12 000 francs. Louis XIII deposited them in the royal library, which was nationalized at the Revolution as the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

.Kasper van Ommen
‘À la bonne grace de Monsieur de Boistailli’ Scaliger and the Hurault de Boistaillé family'
, ''Bulletin van de Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden en het Scaliger Instituut'', 03/2009:12. Some of Huralt’s manuscripts are housed now at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

; one manuscript is housed in Bern ( Burgerbibliothek Bern, ms. 360).Andrist Patrick, ''Les manuscrits grecs conservés à la Bibliothèque de la Bourgeoisie de Berne – Burgerbibliothek Bern'', Dietikon-Zürich 2007, pp. 180-182. See
Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 360 – Catalogue des manuscrits de Jean Hurault de Boistaillé
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurault de Boistaille, Jean Ambassadors of France to the Ottoman Empire French art collectors French bibliophiles 1517 births 1572 deaths Ambassadors of France to the Republic of Venice 16th-century French diplomats