Re: Jacobus and Rudolf

["Gabriel Landini" <G.Landini@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,
Just some more comments.

On 22 Jan 2002 at 17:37, Jorge Stolfi wrote:
> Indeed, and worse: the Clementinum Jesuits were supposed to have
> inherited most of Jacobus's estate!
> 
> But this argument can be turned around: if Baresh knew that the book
> had belonged to Jacobus, and hence could be a valuable piece of lost
> Jesuit property, why would he write to Kircher --- a Jesuit --- about
> it?

{the following is of course, put speculation}
That, I think, is one of the  reasons why he did not want to send it:

1. As you say, it may have had JdeT signature in it and whose library should have been in Jesuit hands. But 
this is 15 yrs. after JdeT death.

2. Worse still, it might have been Rudolf's book... That's a double "no".

So by copying a page to K and not sending it, he would get everything he wanted: 
1. have a solution, 
2. keep the book (in case of being of value),
3. cover the fact that JdeT may not have returned to Rudolf,
4. cover the fact that the book should be in Jesuit's hands.

> (BTW, I seem to remember reading in Schmidl that the Clementinum was
> sacked during the war, shortly after Jacobus's death; but then the
> tide turned and the Emperor ordered all their stolen property to be
> restored.)

There you are. He did not returned, despite that he should have done so.

> Actually, without the alleged signature there would be nothing to
> explain: we would have assumed that Raphael was wrong, that the book
> had never been Rudolf's, and that B just got it through ordinary
> means: a bookshop, flea market, or estate auction; in Rome, in Prague,
> or anywhere else.

What I meant was that there would be no connection between R and B.
We would be wondering how on earth the book went from R to B (as we are now :-) )

Cheers,
Gabriel