SIGNED, SEALED, AND DELIVERED
[LE MARCHE.]
Deed relating to the sale of property in Beltrovato (a district of Morrovalle in the Province of Macerata in the Marche region of Italy).
[Rome, 1616.]
Manuscript in Latin and Italian on vellum, small 4to, ff. 56, [2]; in a fine Italic hand with contributions in two contemporary hands to ff. 56-58, ruled in pencil for 23 lines per page, with notarial stamps to ff. 56r and [57]v, ff. 1-56 foliated in brown ink; flesh sides slightly yellowed, small hole to inner corner of lower margin suggesting removal of a notarial seal; bound in contemporary sheep, panelled in blind and alloy with large alloy-gilt cornerpieces, central armorial block in alloy and (later?) gilt, vestigial ties to fore-edge, spine alloy-ruled in compartments, spine lined with printed waste; lightly rubbed with a few small scuffs at extremities, alloy tarnished.
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Deed relating to the sale of property in Beltrovato (a district of Morrovalle in the Province of Macerata in the Marche region of Italy).
A curiously bound public instrument notarised by the Apostolic Camera in Rome detailing the sale of property belonging to two brothers from the influential de’ Mozzi family of Macerata.
Macerata (in the present-day region of Le Marche) was a province of the Papal States when the present land deed was signed in October 1616, in the twelfth year of the papacy of Paul V. Here, the sale of property belonging to brothers Bartolotto and Francesco Mozzi to a Giovanni Giacomo Bulgarini is discussed, including plans for payment and an overview of neighbouring properties. The deed is signed by Joannes Baptista Vatellus Amerinus and Joannes Dominicus Spinuta [sic] on behalf of the Notary of the Apostolic Camera, at Bulgarini’s residence in Rome. Bulgarini was heavily involved with the operations of the Roman Curia himself, operating as a notary of the Apostolic Camera before taking up a role as Secretary of the Congregazione del Buon Governo – a governing body concerned with municipal fiscal management – from 1618 to 1620.
Bulgarini’s usufructuary rights are discussed at length, among them the right to use any waterways on the property (perhaps a reference to the river Chienti, which borders the property, or man-made canals) as well as any dovecotes on the estate. The noble de’ Mozzi family owned several properties in Macerata, notably the Palazzo Mozzi Ferri (better known as the Palazzo dei Diamanti), acquired by Bartolotto Mozzi, father of Francesco and the younger Bartolotto, in 1534. Bartolomeo Mozzi, the final descendant of the family, was instrumental in establishing the Mozzi-Borgetti Library in the eighteenth century; it has since expanded to include approximately 400,000 volumes, with a significant collection of incunabula.
The centrepiece bears the arms of the de’ Mozzi family. Tooled in alloy and bound in sheep over thin boards, the binding is somewhat unusual both in terms of manufacture and style for central Italy, featuring elements more commonly associated with north-eastern Italian or southern Austrian binding.
See Tabacchi, Il Buon Governo (2007).
